Review | Love After Love movie review: Sandra Ma, Eddie Peng star in Ann Hui’s gorgeous period drama set in 1930s Hong Kong
- Love After Love evokes decadent high-society life in pre-war Hong Kong as it chronicles the toxic relationship between a teenager and an immoral playboy
- A line-up of legendary figures behind the scenes includes cinematographer Christopher Doyle, composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and costume designer Emi Wada
3/5 stars
Love After Love was scripted for the big screen by influential Chinese writer Wang Anyi from Eileen Chang’s 1943 novella Aloeswood Incense: The First Brazier. But despite being Hui’s third adaptation of Chang’s work – after Love in a Fallen City (1984) and Eighteen Springs (1997) – the film is arguably the least satisfying of the trio.
Sandra Ma Sichun plays Weilong, a Shanghainese teenager who moved to Hong Kong two years ago and now needs to find financial support to finish her secondary education. She seeks help from her aunt Madame Liang (Faye Yu Feihong), who has been estranged from Weilong’s father since she chose to become the mistress of a wealthy tycoon long ago.
A beautiful melodrama in which characters indulge in ugly impulses both sexual and material, Love After Love follows Weilong as she falls for the wrong man, and then doubles down and forces him into an unhappy marriage. An ordeal by default, Hui’s film does at least reward attentive audiences with some sharp writing in the early goings, as well as moments of dark humour peppered throughout.
While Hui completists may be satisfied by her typically assured direction, viewers looking for surprise plot turns, cathartic payoffs or even likeable characters in this 140-minute marathon of emotional violence should think again.