Happy Birthday by Jingle Ma Chor Sing (2006)
23 May 2007Jingle Ma can make a really good and beautiful film, so despite my misgivings about Louis Koo Tin Lok, I still picked up this film. And honestly while the film is lacking, and through most of the film I was getting a little pissed off, the film in fact ended well, and was at least enjoyable. The film is a tragic love story between 2 people that just can’t manage to get together for good, even though they are meant for each other, and it is well done once you get over the fact that Louis Koo plays the same character from modern times to back when he was in college, and they do nothing production design wise to show the passage of time. Still a good tragic love story, even if it does feel like their could be something more, I think maybe Louis Koo’s character just seemed a little too lacking through most of the film for me to fully emotionally connect until the ending.
The film starts with Mi (Rene Liu) a successful pianist living a lonely life going to go talk to her childhood friend (Larence Chou Chun Wai) who is a hairstylist on her birthday since she hasn’t gotten a birthday message from her one true love Nam (Louis Koo Tin Lok). Nam and Mi aren’t together anymore, and in fact Nam has been married for 3 years and lives in Singapore, but she still expects her birthday message from her one true love, and it does come, though 2 days late. We then go back in time to find out about these two’s relationship. They met in college, Nam was the roommate of Mi’s childhood friend at a different college, and seemingly totally different, Mi always alone, and Nam always surrounded by women, but still they started a relationship, though never got too close. Mi always kept pushing for them to just be friend’s forever, but Nam loved her and wouldn’t go for it. Then Nam’s eldest sister pushed him to go study in the US, and he went, and tried to push Mi to go, but she stayed at home to take care of her elderly grandmother and father (Richard Ng Yiu Hon).
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
Happy Birthday on All Region DVD at Five Star Laser
Eventually Nam returns and they do kind of start their relationship again, and we see when her Mom almost runs away that she is horrified of being left by her loved ones, as she was left by her mother, and that is why she won’t let Nam get too close. And when her grandmother dies, she finally takes his advice and goes to school in Japan even though he is now back in Hong Kong. Nam sees other women, but can never get to close, even texting Mi all the time while right in front of them, and he is always going and hanging out with her father, and listening to the tapes her mother made while teaching her piano while she was a kid. Still her friend who is getting married introduces her to a guy who has lived in Japan (Carl Ng Ka Lung) who starts teacher her Japanese, and obviously likes her, but Nam tries to keep them apart,
In Japan Mi hangs out with another Japanese student all the time, and he obviously likes her, but she never lets him get to close. And eventually Nam comes and visits, and they are together for a short time, but he asks her to come back to Hong Kong, but she refuses and he leaves. Eventually she does return before graduating though, and meets her father and Mi at the hospital. Still they don’t end up really getting to together as they always should. The guy still tries to see Mi (Carl Ng), but can never believe that Mi and Nam are not still lovers.
Nam hints again and again that they should be together, trying to get her to take photos in a wedding dress, but when she says no he instantly leaves in a cab, and shortly thereafter he calls her and leaves a message saying he is getting married, and leaving this message in front of his wife to tell Mi that they are only friends. Mi is crushed, but still loves him, and expects his messages every year, and we come back the begging. Mi’s childhood friend is going to Singapore so he is going to look up his friend Nam, but he runs into ones of Nam’s ex’s at the airport and learns that Nam is dead. He goes to Nam’s sister and finds out that Nam in fact never married, he had rectal cancer and died, and didn’t want to crush Mi, so he was having his sister send the e-mail to Mi on her birthday, which is why it was late. He had come to her father and gotten all the tapes of her practicing as a kid and listening the them as he laid in bed dyeing. His mother burnt them except one, which was to be returned to Mi if she ever found out, And then we see her preparing to go to school in Viena, not knowing Nam is dead, and still wanting to text him and tell him, but she doesn’t, and goes to Viena as he would have wanted.
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Honestly I though Nam was a cad for most of the film, but slowly you do see how she pushed him away, and you realize how much eh wanted to marry her, and finally when he knew he was dyeing, he thought it would help her more if he pushed her away by pretending to be married, so she would not be with him when he died, and forever mourn his death.
What a sad film, though still laking a bit. I mean Rene Liu does a great job, but Koo just doesn’t convey the depth of emotions too well. Still enjoyable though if not great.
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