bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Paul Fonoroff

Starring: Zhou Dongyu,  Aarif Rahman, Gigi Leung Wing-kei,  Richie Jen Hsien-chi, Shawn Dou Xiao
Directed by: Barbara Wong  Chun-chun
Category: IIA (Cantonese andPutonghua)
This could be the sudsiest soap opera unleashed upon  local screens in 2012. A compilation of three lachrymose tales,  the mainland-based melodrama will try the patience, if not the tear ducts, of audiences expecting something a bit  edgier from director Barbara Wong Chun-chun.  
Whatever one's response to her previous efforts, there's  no denying the stamp of Wong's personality and quirky perspective on the Hong Kong scene. 
The same goes for scriptwriter Lawrence Cheng Tan-shui,  whose dry sense of local humour made  The Yuppie Fantasia (1988) a touchstone of its era.
Not so this time in part due to a pallid portrayal of the movie's milieu. While there are views of such unique architectural wonders as Shanghai's Republican-era music conservatory and a beautifully preserved cinema, they come across as pretty facades with as little depth as the emotions enacted by the equally pretty players.
The first chapter is typical, featuring two attractive youths (Zhou Dongyu and Aarif Rahman)   who suffer from the type of celluloid cancer that only enhances the sufferer's allure. 
The sanitarium in which they over-emote not only puts most resorts to shame but is seemingly available to rich and poor alike.  
The movie's 'second tear' is similarly contrived though without fatal consequences for the main stars.  Gigi Leung Wing-kei  is  asked to impersonate a deaf violin virtuoso who, through the encouragement of conservatory sweetheart  Richie Jen Hsien-chi, makes a triumphant return to the stage and saves her old school in the process. 
It's a situation reminiscent of the Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney 'let's put on a musical' formula, minus show-stopping numbers and a touch of humour to compensate for the schmaltz and foreshadowed finale. 
In the third instalment, a tragedy ostensibly set  among the working class but with an affected grittiness that defies belief. At the centre is a gorgeous couple (Joe Chen Chiao-en and Shawn Dou Xiao,  above left)  whose model  looks and demeanour fail to gibe with the impoverished surroundings.  
Adding to the unreality is a total absence of sexual heat between the  lovers, as if the impending misfortune has already taken its toll. In the end, it's a toss-up as to whether cast or critics shed the most tears.
The Allure of Tears opens on March 1



The Allure of Tears