Perhaps love: The firm grasp of the past

A very unique epic musical story from Peter Ho-Sun Chan delivers a great deal of aesthetic excitement, romantic beauty of tragic love theme clashed with the ruthlessness of human ambitions, power-striking soundtrack tipped with the melancholic energy and stunning acting-and-singing performances from Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhou Xun and Jacky Cheung. To say that “Perhaps love” is a remarkable cinematic experience would be an understatement as it writhes a perfectly cosy nest within your heart with no intention of leaving.

No simple romance plotline ideas can apply to Chan’s twisted and still purely magical picture which burns you with emotional flames just vaguely simmering underneath the smooth surface of clearly misleading appearances. The story that connects Sun Na and Lin Jian Dong was once deeply rooted in what could be named love but after her despicable deed of eloping with the famous director-to-be in order to launch a splendid acting career excluding her unsuccessful boyfriend, love evaporates to transform into love-like and revenge-lined push and pull play. Sun Na, Lin Jian Dong and their friend, the director, meet again after years for another movie making. But this time the forces are equal because once a zero, Lin Jian Dong traversed his route from rags to riches and became an onscreen hero who can finally match with his beloved one. In the game that the three of them embark on, no one will be victorious nor unscratched, but emotionally wrecked – certainly yes. The narrative construction exposes brilliantly the turns of human soul with the means of emotions-jostling songs shuffled with numerous retrospections spiced up by the delicate artistic vision and consummate acting.

Takeshi Kaneshiro makes the character of Lin Jian Dong an ambivalent personae lost among his unsatisfied expectations, who attempts to devote himself to revenge and loathing but ends up only inflaming his old feelings. Zhou Xun manages not to reduce herself to the character of a cruel opportunist but digs deeper to find a life-disappointed self-angry girl. The final word belongs to Jacky Cheung who creates his role on the basis of powerful tear-jerking voice singing and profound look which makes the whole picture not only moving but authentically sad.