Starring: Nick Nolte, Maggie Cheung

Directed By: Olivier Assayas

A couple walks into a pub where bands are performing their songs and producers are lining up to sign contracts all in a drunken haze. This is the start of this accidental film. It takes us a little while to get into the story of a woman who tears apart the life of a man by her addictive character. The scene where the woman stands outside her car after a hit gives the sense of something grave to come. The film stars Maggie Cheung who is at the height of her game. She leaves us with a bitter sweet movie which has a lot of backstories which gives this a lot of movement within the script. The film shows how her character seamlessly gels into any lifestyle and getting what she wants and when she wants it. The film moves with an uneasy vibe highlighted in things such as the way Maggie Cheung holds a cigarette. Maggie Cheung’ strength in this role is her adaptation to this character. She leaves this film as a liberated woman who desperately wants to find success but is dogged by her past.

People blame her for the death of her husband, a promising musician. He leaves a legacy of anthologies for the fans and sort of ends up like a cult figure. His father who lives with his grandson tries to bring back Maggie Cheung to her senses. He doesn’t blame anyone for this personal tragedy. But he is cut on the face with marks of grief which severe into his expressions. He gives Maggie Cheung some sort of financial backing for her to travel and live after she returns from prison. But there is a lot of built up rage which she vents at her past lifestyle. This includes her drug use and her penchant for women. But she begins to take some sort of control but is this whole exercise futile? The approach which the director uses is a marriage of realism and an ode to this character Maggie Cheung plays. It almost feels like she has reached the end of her curve. But from this end Maggie fashions a role of such credibility it leaves us scorched by its diminutive intensity.

Maggie Cheung is one of the greatest actors living with some memorable roles in many Wong Kar Wai movies. She took the international stage with her role in the beautiful ‘Days of Being Wild’ and the seminal ‘In the Mood For Love’. She had her eyes set on a role which will show a sort of destruction of character and one that will leave her satisfied. This role demanded a lot of her self but she shunned any prejudices and gave it her all. The moments which still remain in your head are the scenes in the zoo with her son. The moments are filled with maternal instincts and innocent insights into her character, which was closed up for so long because of her husbands death.

Nick Nolte who plays the grandfather parallels the life of Maggie Cheung in trying to give his son a better life. Both of them work to give him a promise of a better life. But the age barrier between him and his grandson leaves them with very little time to take care of him. This gives him no choice but to feel sorry for Maggie Cheung’s character and wait for her to change. His wife who detests her and can’t come to terms with the death of her son. She feels her daughter in law’s influence is what led to this death and doesn’t want her near the grandson. But Nick Nolte still tries to let Maggie Cheung see her son and feels people do change with time.

This film’s bleak vision makes it a very difficult watch. But it’s the force of Maggie Cheung’s performance which gives the character a vitality which many roles of similar nature lack. Maggie Cheung, who got the Best Actress Award at the Cannes, felt it was a role which would take her a long time to wear off. She has decided not to take any roles for a little while. But this sense of self which she portrayed in the movie will leave her in the minds of many for sometime.

Popularity: 1% [?]

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!