TIFF Report: Everlasting Regret Review

Ouch! So much for those "Sammi Cheng is the next Maggie Cheung" comments from Stanley Kwan.

I totally agree. Bad to the end.
The director should at least cast a real Shanghai actress.

Sammi Cheng is nothing near Maggie Cheung.

thougt I read somewhere, they had a standing ovation during end credits?? huh......

I think that the writer of this article is referring to the second screening which was held on friday. The original (primiere) screening was that on tuesday.

Yes I was. TIFF has a number of screenings of each film throughout the week. At least 2 per film. There are also PNI screenings [Press and Industry]. So the first screening may have gotten a standing O but the one I was at sure didn't. Boo-urns.

I attended the Hong Kong premiere last night, and totally agree with Mack's comments. Dull, unmoving, and failed to capture the spirit of Shanghai, let alone make the viewer feel interested in Qiyao and her fate.

harsh, but probably true. I had read somewhere that they adapted this novel into both a film and a television series simultaneously, i think this kind of story is definetely better suited for television.

The film might be boring, but it doesn't mean that sammi cheng is not a good actress, she can certainly pull it of, when given a good script and roll, she can be the next "maggie".

First off, the premiere of Everlasting Regret in Toronto is Wednesday. The second screening is on Friday. I was at the movie on Wednesday. I can hear audiences behind me getting really into the film, gasping at many scenes because they feel for Qiyao.

It is a subdued movie that I believe requires many viewing before it can be fully appreciated. It is unfair to compare Maggie Cheung and Sammi Cheng.

I am a Canadian. I happened to be on business in Hong Kong and attended the charity screening for Everlasting Regret premiere on September 20 there. I am surprised to all the negative comments here and felt the urge to write my first movie review.

Watching Film is subjective, one cannot be influenced by other movies of another actress. To compare Maggie against Sammi Cheng is not fair to any artists.

I agreed that this movie should be a bit longer to clarify a lot of the plots. However, being a H.K. movie, one has to edit a lot of the scenes to fit the regular screening in a commercial environment.

I like this movie. The selection of the cast members were appropriate. The cinematography and the choice of music is brilliant. As to Sammi Cheng's first attempt to artsy film. I gave her 80%.

Three scenes stood out in my mind that Sammi handled the character well.
The head banging scene is awesome, one can feel her excellent acting there. The reunion with her High School buddy after a long separtion also speaks volume, Sammi certainly displayed her emotion well.
The scene where Sammi was taking picture with this fake husband was also good acting. Overall I found we should encourage more new actress instead of comparing the old gurad with the new.

As to the criticism to the plots. Please note that a lot of movies need the audience to slowly captured the director's points. I found this movie entertaining. May be it is my type of movies.

I like this movie. Very deep. Excellent acting, brilliant cinematograpy and good music. 2 Thumbs up.

It's utterly unfair to compare Sammi with Maggie. Sammi is Sammi and she doesn't need to be another Maggie Cheung.

Very Shanghai Feel film. I agree with J.B.'s analysis.
Sammi Cheng certainly displayed vast improvement in her acting abilities.
I like those three scenes mentioned by J.B.
Thumbs up!

I'm shocked that Stanley Kwan used the Chinese text device in an exact layout like that of Wong Kar Wai's. The film's period context is already quite close to Wong's usual territory and with a similar style of cinematography, audiences who didn't know better would have thought that the film was by Wong.

Yes, the film looks like a mini-series condensed, but did anyone notice that the outside world is literally blocked out so even external scenes survive with an internal "shell".

The film is very choppy and anyone who has a lesser understanding of period history would be totally confused. Kwan seriously needs a dramatist in the scripting to hang everything together. However, Wong Kar Wai is also not immune to similar problems, as shown in 2046.

I have to give it to Sammi for her "headbagging" scene and the way she "screamed and jostled" on the floor. That was very real and moving. I did that once in my life when I was heartbroken and I could really feel for her. Great stuff. Shame the scene was short and not used to its full effect.

i agree with those who feel that it is unfair to compare Sammi with Maggie. it is a good thing that Sammi is progessing from love comedies to serious movies with such deep meaning. we should praise her for that instead of criticising her not-so-chinese accent and acting. i mean after all, maggie started on all these artsy films much earlier, she has a lot of experience in these kind of shows. i thoroughly enjoyed the movie even though some parts were quite abrupt. sammi was great. im waiting for more artsy films from her!

For me, the movie makes an excellent reflection of the personal crisis and at the same time portrays what happens beyond the walls without showing it directly. The clothes, the things people use, and even their stare change throughout the movie. In my personal point of view, people can sometimes clap at movies...yes, but sometimes movies are just too shocking or beautiful to clap. My favorite movies are the ones that after the end i can just stare at the credits with an empty look, as i am still trying to digest what i had just seen. This movie is one of those..and the shock comes from the phrase that opens the movie until the majestic closing one.

Well, when it comes this this kind of "Art" movies, everyone is entitled to their own opinions. It is very subjective. There is no "right" or "wrong". Some will like it and some will not. But when a movie is not up to its standard, doesn't mean the casts sucks. Although Everlasting Regret may not lived up to standards, but you can't deny most of the casts in the movie are great actresses/actors. Sammi Cheng has proven herself as the sweetheart of HK box office while Tony Leung is the multi award winning actor. Hu Jun is a veteran stage actor and Daniel Wu bagged the Best Supporting Actor award at the 41st Golden Horse Award. With such a strong cast, expectations are high. But if an unknown actress was cast instead in the same role, you may have a different opinion. Just because everyone already typecast Sammi Cheng. That is the main problem.

This movie is about a life-long love story of a girl in Shanghai, China. So it requires quite a lot of the cultural background to understand it, feel it, or be touched and moved by it. After all, the story comes from a well-composed novel, thus the movie shouldn't be too bad or boring.

The color on the screen looks like faded after aging for a long time, not that saturated or vivid like Kar Wai Wong's style. For native audience, the accents from different actors sound funny sometimes, because nobody has the Shanghai accent, but just Beijing tone or Hongkong tone. So I laughed for seconds when Simon, the son of Lily, comes from Hongkong, speaking with a Northeasternese tone. :-D