Review | Fagara film review: Sammi Cheng stars in exquisite family drama – one of 2019’s best Hong Kong films
- Adapted from a 2010 novel by popular romance author Amy Cheung, the film is a touching and quietly poignant reflection on the importance of family ties
- It’s an astonishingly assured return to form for director Heiward Mak, and already a front-runner for next year’s Hong Kong Film Awards
4.5/5 stars
A Hong Kong woman rediscovers the treasure of family ties after her father’s death in this exquisite and quietly poignant drama. Produced by Ann Hui On-wah and adapted from a 2010 novel by popular romance author Amy Cheung Siu-han, Fagara features the best role in years for Canto-pop superstar Sammi Cheng Sau-man, and looks set to be a front-runner at next year’s Hong Kong Film Awards.
Cheng plays Acacia, a travel agent who suddenly receives news of the death of her father, Ha Leung (Kenny Bee), in hospital. Having long resented him for his infidelity to her mother, Acacia is nonetheless overcome with emotions when she learns of the existence of Branch (Megan Lai Ya-yan, 10,000 Miles ) and Cherry (Li Xiaofeng, Youth ) – her two sisters, both from different mothers, that she never met.
The biggest laugh of this serene film comes during the funeral, when Acacia shows just how estranged she and dad were – by mixing up his religion. But the sisters hit it off amid their shared sense of abandonment: Branch, a Taiwanese snooker player, has never felt a part of her mother’s new family; while Cherry, a Chinese fashion vlogger, is alternately bemused and annoyed by her grandma’s concerns about her love life.