‘Almost a love story’ was a huge success in
the year 1996 which won 16 major film awards in Hong Kong and the mainland
China. With the historical background of the reunification of Hong Kong, the
director Peter Chan depicted a heart-broken love story between two lonely and
helpless young people, and, more importantly, conveyed a manifestation of
attitudes towards life, love and fortune in that particular period of
time.
Xiaojin Li comes to Hong Kong along from
the mainland China with his dream: work hard, make a lot of money and marry his
fiancée Ting, yet he can neither speak Cantonese nor English, life in Hong Kong
is not a fantasy as he imagines before. Whilst he is seeking a job, he gets to
know a beautiful girl Qiao who works in the McDonalds. Qiao, as an immigrant
worker from mainland China as well, has a much bigger dream than Li—become a
real ‘Hong Konger’ and be respected by the local residence. Life is harsh and
they gradually become a strong support to each other. No surprise, they fall in
love in the bustling metropolis. As many other romantic stories go, good time doesn’t
last long in this film. The relationship perplexed Qiao because she is far from
reconciled to what Li is able to offer, she realizes she will never get comfy
and steady life in this island with this man. She chooses to leave, marry an
ugly gang leader who is end up dying on the street. Years later, they meet in
New York again, story ends.
Analysis
Tragedy and base on reality
“…by blending history with fiction or
legend, the personal with the political, in a narrative pattern characterized
by a bipolar structure that is typical Chinese.” 1 Different from the fever of
action, comedy and Rags to Riches topics in the western film industry, Chinese
filmmakers pay more attention on the nonentities such as peasants, factory
workers and poor people who are painful and struggling for a better life and
happiness, especially in a particular historical period of time like world war
two and political upheaval or events (Hong Kong reunited). In the year 1905, the first Chinese film “Dingjun
Mountain” was produced in Shanghai which was adapted by a traditional Peking
Opera, revolving around a story of brave Chinese soldiers fight against the
invasion of the Japanese. Thus, the key tune of Chinese film has been determined.
In this film ‘ Almost a love story’, the confusion of Li and Qiao was once
lived in everyone’s mind— Happiness only exists when you have milk and bread in
your blanket, but for the people in mainland China of the entire 80’s, poverty
and starvation were the main society issue that was impossible to ignore. One
of the best shot in this film, in my opinion, is at the beginning, when Li
first stepped on the land of Hong Kong and takes an escalator with a lot of
luggage with him, he stands towards a beam of strong sunlight, tired and
lonely. The scene was shown in black and white for a strong contrast, full of
bitter and sorrow. 
Teresa Teng The most important clue goes through this Chinese classic film is a song named “sweet” by one of the significant singer Teresa Teng (1953-1995). It is a soft, cheerful love song which brings positive energy to young people for a whole generation. Xiaojun and Qiao start to know each other because they both love this song, they sell Teresa’s albums on the street, and one of the best memories, Qiao sits on Xiaojun’s bike, singing “ sweet” together. This tune, in my opinion, is the symbol of the emotions between this two, furthermore, of all lost people in the time. Most of classic Hollywood films have always worked to men as the active and powerful heroes while the women they love are always waiting to be rescued. Chinese filmmakers more likely to focus on the inner world of women—they might not smart, talented, sometimes they get themselves in trouble, but they are not as weak as we imagine. In this film, Qiao is the one with ideals and desires, the director depicted a perfect poetry for “ woman in new century” .
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