Anna Magdalena (1998)

This is the story of a piano tuner (Takeshi Kaneshiro-Chan Kar-fu) who meets Yan Muk-yan (Aaron Kwok) at a job. By sheer "luck", they meet again and Yan moves in with Chan. A beautiful young lady (Kelly Chen-Mok Man-yee) moves into the same building and both Chan and Yan fall in love with her. If this film was a comedy only about this, their misadventures trying to win Mok's heart, it would be fine because they are all appealing characters. However, this film goes far beyond that. The film is a meditation on love, being together and just a little lust. There are moments of great comic relief, as well as some tender scenes. The title of the film refers to Bach, Anna Magdalena being his wife. That means that the music in the film is wonderful, as the film pretty much is. The film has a tremendous heart, a pleasant departure from romantic comedies that struggle to make ninety minutes and add irrelevant scenes and characters. Everyone in the film is great, its a high water mark for romantic comedy. I highly recommend this film if you like romantic comedy, its definitely worthy of your time.

I went into this film with no expectations, and came away very pleasantly surprised. It is one of my most favorite romantic films.The main storyline, a romantic triangle, was nice enough. Each of the three main characters (Chan Kar-fu, Mok Man-yee, Yau Muk-yan) have such different approaches to life and romance that it was pleasant (and sad) to watch the ways they connect and fail to connect. I felt this storyline was satisfying by itself, but I think it was given some richness by a series of very peripheral characters that comment on the theme of the film with their own inabilities to romantically connect with the people they are attracted to. For me, however, the thing that made this film stand out most strongly was the eccentric story-within-a-story (written by Chan Kar-fu, read by the assistant editor) which both lightened the serious tone of the film, and deepened the theme of love and the difficulty of admitting that love.

Anna Magdalena is certainly a very interesting film. It is interesting in that this film's plot does progress linearly, bilaterally or whatever. In fact, it is hard to categorise this style of storytelling. Besides being a comedy and a drama, I think this film can also be categorised as a fantasy. To some people, a plot is considered to be an essential ingredient in a film. A certain setting must lead to a certain event, and then that event must be developed further into a plot. However, this movie has proven to the audience that a motion picture need not be bounded by the rules of literature or the theater. In portraying a romantic story, most artistic screenwriters will use a narration, but a creative screenwriter like Ivy Ho chose a much more fantastic style. In the middle of the film, the Anna Magdalena that is chapterised in a style that resembles a classical music piece, spins off to the inner fantasy of Chan Ka Fu(Takeshi), who has written it down and sent it to a publisher. As Chan's flight of imagination is being played out, the subtle love of the assistant editor(Yuen) and the editor(Cheng) are also being portrayed. Granted, The love triangles of Chan, Mok(Kelly Chan), and You(Aaron Kwok), and the As. editor, the editor and his wife are seemingly irrelevant, but the screenwriter has already made it clear that this film is not about the telling of a single story, but a more general, more common yawn for true love among Hongkongers. For those who are tired of set ways, who want a little spice in the dough, who are open-minded to different things, this movie is a must-see.

I dont know why everyone just has bad reviews about this film. I personally really enjoyed this movie and have watched it countless times.The film was very well plotted. Both Actors/Actresses and behind the scene producers need to be praised for what a meaningful story they put together.The ending of the film was one of the most touching scenes I had ever scene when the second musical box opened.People should try to appreciate the film. Try to understand the meaning behind it and then maybe will enjoy the film as much as i do!