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

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Sandra Ma (left) and Faye Yu in a still from Love After Love (category IIA; Mandarin), directed by Ann Hui. Eddie Peng co-stars.

Published: 11:15am, 24 Nov 2021

3/5 stars

The doomed romance between a hopelessly romantic schoolgirl and an absurdly heartless womaniser turns out as disastrously as expected in Love After Love, a languorous period drama from director Ann Hui On-wah.

An impeccably staged production that vividly evokes decadent high-society life in pre-war 1930s Hong Kong, the film boasts a line-up of legendary figures behind the scenes, from Christopher Doyle as cinematographer to Ryuichi Sakamoto as composer, and the recently deceased Emi Wada dazzling us with her mesmerising costume design for one last time.

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.