3/5 stars For an art-house auteur in his 70s to come out of semi-retirement and make his first animated film, and for him to set his story precisely in 1967 Hong Kong against a backdrop of violent demonstrations against British colonial rule, Yonfan’s latest effort might seem at first like a passion project with important messages to convey. His first film since 2009’s Prince of Tears , No 7 Cherry Lane even won the best screenplay award at the Venice festival in September 2019 while Hong Kong was embroiled in one of its worst-ever political crises, with vocal support from the international community for the city’s anti-government protesters reaching an all-time high. But make no mistake about Yonfan’s intentions. His film, despite its political context, is anything but provocative. A sensual portrait of longing which frequently loses its narrative momentum to a litany of cinematic and literary references, if anything it depicts social upheaval as mere disturbance to better living through sex, arts and daydreaming. The erotically charged story revolves around Ziming (voiced by Alex Lam Tak-shun, Lion Rock ), an English literature student at the University of Hong Kong who is lusted after by every man or woman he meets. Right after he plays a tennis game in the opening scene with an imaginary ball, à la 1966’s Blow-up , Ziming becomes the object of everyone’s desire in the shower room. His powers of sexual attraction are witnessed again when he arrives at the North Point address of the film’s title to tutor chic high-school model Meiling (Zhao Wei), only to spend the afternoon chatting about books with her equally gorgeous divorced mother, Mrs Yu (Sylvia Chang Ai-chia), inciting Dream of the Red Chamber -inspired rape fantasies in the head of the woman, a former revolutionary self-exiled from Taiwan. As Ziming takes Mrs Yu to movie dates that give the impression Hong Kong cinemas were all Simone Signoret matinees all the time, he also appears to be having a relationship with Meiling. Audiences expecting a spicy love-triangle drama like Signoret’s Room at the Top (1959) will be disappointed, however, as Yonfan never bothers to elaborate on Ziming’s thoughts on the two women he is seeing. Instead, the film serves more as the writer-director’s Proustian exercise to indulge in his own nostalgia. It may even be a sentimental ghost story of sorts, with a supporting character – a creepy, ageing Chinese opera diva living upstairs – adding to this spooky vibe. Not to mention that all the characters move at a sedated pace that befits an elegy – which this film should probably also count as. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook