Wordiezett So much average

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

melissa8686 This movie was no doubt very unclear, so it leaves plenty to the audiences imagination. A good thing, yes for some movies, but in this case...no. When certain movies decide to leave things unclear and let's the audience to interpret it themselves, there is a significant reason why they do that. But for this movie, there simply isn't.I found it more funny then actually dramatic. The music was good but for a musical, it doesn't make the audience want to learn and dance to the songs. Comparing it to the Moulin Rouge, there is no doubt the Moulin Rouge is much better, music and theatrical wise. I found it a bit dragged on and how there was no real significance overall in the story. This movie is not a waste of time, it has it's moments only because of the great performances from the main 3 characters, so the verdict of "Perhaps Love" 5/10Chow

Lester Mak (leekandham) Perhaps Love is an unusual film from the East in that it is a musical. Jacky Cheung plays an acclaimed movie director, Nie Wen, who gave the major break to his girlfriend Sun Na (Zhou Xun) years ago. Once again, he's cast her in a musical film which tells of a love triangle between the leading lady to be played by Sun Na, her former boyfriend played by Lin Jian-Dong (Takeshi Kaneshiro) and a circus director played by Nie Wen. Little does Nie Wen know that there are too many similarities between his script and real life, as Sun Na and Lin Jian-Dong have a past from 10 years before.Our film unravels, showing the parallels between Nie Wen's film and flashbacks of the story between Sun Na and Lin Jian-Dong. Despite the potential for it being clichéd and full of the boring old scenes from other romantic stories, it does turn out to be innovative and full of a few twists to keep the interest going. Plus Nie Wen's musical film gives some beautiful songs and choreography that occasionally bridge fictional and real life, so good in fact, that they would fit in well in some good West End/Broadway musicals.Jacky Cheung, fresh from his almost endless tour round Asia in the stage musical production, Snow.Wolf.Lake, demonstrates in the movie why he is the king of the musical stage in Asia. His unique, powerful singing voice shines like a heavenly king's should. Takeshi Kaneshiro was a pop star in his youth and sings well (and just in case you wondered, not at all like the drunken scene in House Of Flying Daggers when Zhang Ziyi dances). But the acting honours go to Zhou Xun, who didn't actually have many singing parts, but her acting shone through as exceptional. She effectively plays three characters in this movie (Sun Na in her youth and as the diva, and the character in Nie Wen's film), and she makes the transition between those characters so effortlessly. She is for me a real talent in the making, a Zhang Ziyi but with real acting ability aside from looking innocent. It is no wonder then, that she won the HK Film Critics Award in 2006 for best actress, beating a whole host of stars and is up for the same category the coveted Hong Kong Film Awards in April 2006.Peter Chan's visionary directing is as strong as ever. The film has some amazing sets, costumes and choreography that brings it to life. The cinematography is almost Christopher Doyle-esquire. Given Chan's other recent success (as producer) being Dumplings in the Three... Extremes films, I'm now looking forward to what Chan has to offer next.The film is bound to create some more interest in Chinese musicals in the future, and I'm hoping that we'll see a film version of Jacky Cheung's Snow.Wolf.Lake. And there is an appetite for it internationally too, as Perhaps Love was widely praised when it closed the 62nd Venice Film Festival. In Hong Kong, it received good reviews, is nominated for 11 HK Film Awards and was Hong Kong's official entry into the Oscars (although it hasn't been nominated) This is a gorgeous film and definitely worth watching. One for an emotional tug on the musical heartstrings.

moonlitedreamz Why do we like to put movies in categories? Why do we have to compare such a splendid movie with other musical movies? All movies are different. Just because Perhaps Love is not as musical as other musical movies does not mean it is worse than those movies. I personally loved the movie. the characters performed beautifully, the songs were original and empathetic. The plot seemed simple, yet complex and deep. The idea of 'film making' in a film is clever and well fitted. The costumes were designed exceptional as we see clear contrast between the past in BeiJing and the present new Sun Na. The introduction was philosophical. Life is a movie. you could be the protagonist on someone's movie, or just a glimpse of the face. The love between the 3 people seemed simple yet extremely complex. and the twist at the end of sad yet realistic. In conclusion, Perhaps Love is a masterpiece. it needs more explorations to be completely understand, but i think it's worthwhile. Good Job!

chingz-ng I've recently watched Perhaps Love again, and the film was even more beautiful the second time around. I've come to find that there are very very few films that successfully capture the struggle of love on-screen, so I was very (and pleasantly) surprised that an Asian film managed it so well. The chemistry between the actors felt real and I loved the soundtrack! Probably the weak points were the choreography and the effects (especially the ending sequence).Btw, the director, Peter Chan, has stressed in interviews that Perhaps Love is NOT a musical, but a love story, so viewers shouldn't be going in and expecting a fare like Moulin Rouge.I liked the way reality and illusions, past and present, were hard to separate in the movie (eg no different usage of colors), because it reflected the inner struggle of the characters; Sun Na, who refuses to believe that her past affects her present; Nie Wen, who thinks that illusions can solve reality's problems; Jian Dong, who cannot separate the past from the present.The saddest part was when Sun Na, after receiving her memoir from Monty, recalled the film that Nie Wen had always wanted to make -- "a simple love story" -- and she said "If that film was ever made, I've always wanted to be in that film...", which reflected her inner yearning for a simple love story of her own, but it never came true. But why did she disagree so strongly with the location of that film that Nie Wen said it would be filmed at? (Qingdao? and Qinghai?, sorry can't remember the exact names) Perhaps it's because even though Nie Wen and Sun Na longed for the same thing in a whole, they also longed for different things that they could not agree upon.There are so many things to discuss about the movie, but I think most of it is subjective; if you know how much love can confuse, hurt, give hope and stumble, you'd probably like Perhaps Love too. Words won't do it justice! All in all, Peter Chan did a great job in capturing the emotions of the characters. Worth a second and third watch!