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Opposite Love (1968)
Director:
Chor Yuen
Cast: Connie Chan, Wu
Fung, Cheung Ching, Helena Law
Publisher: Winson; Format: VCD, DVD
(Region 0)
English subtitles: No
Full credits and synposis from the HKFA online catalog
Siu-ling (Connie
Chan) and Chi-ming (Wu Fung) grew up as brother and
sister, ever since she was found in the street next to her dead
mother during the war. Siu-ling likes to sing, and Chi-ming is an
excellent composer who works as a pianist in a nightclub. Chi-ming tends
to work too much and sometimes feels strangely giddy. One day he is too
sick to work, and Siu-ling goes to the nightclub to tell the manager.
While she is waiting for him, she starts singing and playing the piano.
The rich and gentle Keung (Cheung Ching), who happens to be visiting
from Singapore, walks in and mistakes her for a singer at the club. When
she tells him that she doesn’t sing professionally, he encourages her
to give it a try. She hesitates because she is still in college, but after
Keung’s insistence and with Chi-ming’s consent, she becomes a singer at
the club. Keung and Siu-ling soon develop a romantic relationship,
which leaves Chi-ming feeling left behind by Siu-ling. Becoming
more and more sad, he writes the most beautiful and melancholy song,
performed of course by Siu-ling. He’s clearly in love with his adopted
sister. During a party where all the guests are toasting Siu-ling
and Keung as a new couple, he stands alone in a corner, gazing at the
moon.
Keung’s father, however, looks down on Siu-ling because she is a
singer and forces him to return home. Separated from the woman he loves,
Keung finds himself trapped in the routine of a boring job at his
father’s company. Meanwhile, Siu-ling still pines for him, and after
three years she decides to visit him in Singapore. Keung receives her
with joy, but unfortunately he has recently been forced by his father into
an engagement with a rich girl (Helena Law), who hires a detective after
she suspects something is going on. When they find out that Siu-ling is
in Singapore, Keung’s father offers her a ticket to fly back to Hong
Kong, along with a bunch of money, hoping to get rid of her. She leaves
in tears and becomes depressed. She attempts to commit suicide but is
stopped by Chi-ming, who then faints. After discovering he has an
incurable disease, he goes to Singapore and asks Keung to take care
of Siu-ling after he dies. This convinces Keung to finally face his father,
tell him that he sincerely loves Siu-ling, and leave the family for
good. He lands in Hong Kong just before Chi-ming passes away. Siu-ling sings
Chi-ming’s song one last time, as she says goodbye to her dear half brother.
Buckets and buckets of tears are spilled by all
the main characters in Opposite Love,
both men and women. Connie Chan, playing here a simple but passionate
girl, looks wonderful and gives a very good performance. The song
she sings imprints itself into the heart of the viewer, making the
story of this drama more intense and tragic. Wu Fung is credible in the
role of the unlucky young man who sees better than all the others how
things are in this world. Cheung Ching, on the other hand, is a bit weak,
being more suitable for comic roles. Helena Law Lan, although she has
a relatively small role in the movie, manages to give a convincing
performance, blending charm with an uncommon wickedness.
Opposite Love is a textbook example of Cantonese melodrama.
Not so different from today’s films (see the entire filmography of
Derek Yee for a clear example), Chor Yuen’s movie has all the ingredients
for the best dramatic results: an involving story, unfair social barriers,
musical moments echoing the general atmosphere, and many loyal and sincere
characters, who in spite of their own feelings, all end up doing things
for one another’s sake. More than once Chor Yuen nearly turns the
drama into something ridiculous (for example, when the crying Wu Fung
falls down from his hospital bed!), but he keeps the overall situation
under control, the camera always a part of the characters’ feelings.
A short dolly on Connie’s face, for instance,
opposite the movement of her head slowly turning in the other
direction, underlines her being at a loss in the nightclub, something
that will lead to her surprise and consequent love at first sight
when Cheung Ching appears to reassure her. A close-up of Connie that
becomes increasingly blurry, followed by an unsteady close-up of Wu
Fung, spookily anticipates his disease. A shot of Wu Fung answering
the phone, taken from a particular angle, makes him look like he’s
in a cage, which is precisely how he feels in that moment. Finally,
a circular movement of the camera around Connie, while Cheung Ching
is entering the room catching her by surprise, conveys the whole pulse
of her excitement; and when the camera moves away from her and enlarges
the view to include the entire room, we see many shadows drawing intricate
lines like a net all over the walls, communicating the mixed feelings
and chaotic thoughts. Shot in gorgeous black and white,
Opposite Love remains a marvellous experience
even today. It is one of Chor Yuen’s and Connie Chan’s best films and
a quintessential example of Hong Kong cinema.
Reviewed by Valentina
Verrocchio |
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Connie and Wu Fung as brother
and sister.
Connie and Cheung Ching reunited in
Singapore.
Connie sings a final farewell to Wu
Fung.
Buckets and buckets of tears are spilled
in Opposite Love.
Opposite Love is a textbook
example
of Cantonese melodrama.
Chor Yuen’s camera effectively captures
the characters’ feelings.
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