|
 t
was inevitable that the classic love story Romeo
and Juliet would get updated yet again, as if
having to endure Baz Luhrmann's dizzying
interpretation in his 1996 film starring Leonardo
DiCaprio and Claire Danes wasn't bad enough.
Though the story has been tweaked a bit this time
around, mostly with Chinese cultural traditions
added in, "A Time to Love" still
incorporates many of the stock elements from
Shakespeare's play. It's very clear that writers Wu Si and Renjie Zhang are not going
for originality here, but are in fact aiming to
give the audience two likeable characters worth
rooting for. And fortunately for them, this is an
aspect of the film that works.
"A Time to Love"
revolves around two childhood friends who grow up
in the same apartment complex, and who as adults
fall in love. Qu Ran (Vicki Zhao, the sexy
assassin in "So
Close") is the prettiest girl in the
neighbourhood, while Hou Jia (Yi Lu) is the leader
among his small group of friends. Qu Ran and Hou
Jia's bond develops and extends into their high
school years, even as Hou Jia is tasked with
caring for his wheelchair-bound mother, and Qu Ran
manages her studies. Love blooms between the two,
but it's a relationship frown upon by both
families. Though initially deterred, the two
overcomes the obstacles to become lovers, all the
while unaware of the shared history between their
two families.
The first thing you notice is
that references to Romeo and Juliet abound in
"A Time to Love", mostly presented in
three various forms: the written play by
Shakespeare, Franco Zeffirelli's incomparable 1968
film, and a ballet production. The film goes to
great pains to emphasize the similar metaphors
between the two stories, even including a scene
where Qu stands on a balcony reciting verses as
Hou listens underneath.
Unfortunately
the film does have a few drawbacks, one of which
is the lethargic pacing, the result of padding. To
correct this, fifteen or twenty minutes could have
been trimmed from the film without harming the
central storyline (mainly the bit with Qu's
college friend and her brother's marriage, both of
which lead nowhere). Although the film's running
time is less than two hours, certain superfluous
parts make it feel much longer, which is never a
good sign. On the plus side, the conclusion
provides a sense of closure without being overly
melodramatic, as is usually the case with these
types of stories.
Without
a doubt, Vicki Zhao is the star of the film, and
demonstrates that she can carry a movie when
afforded the opportunity. She exhibits equal parts
subtleness and innocence, and is the main reason
the film works as well as it does. Yi Lu is
average as the male lead, and pales in direct
comparison to Zhao when it comes to screen
presence. And while the parent characters are
one-note caricatures, the blame should go to the
screenwriters for not fleshing out any of the
film's secondary characters. As a result, when
various characters have a change of heart, it
comes across as too contrived.
Despite a horrible score (there was little to no
background music during the dramatic scenes, only
during the transitional ones) and some of the
characters being little more than ridiculous
stereotypes, "A Time to Love" has a
simple narrative and interesting enough main
characters to keep most viewers moderately
interested. Fortunately for the film, it's easy to
care about Vicki Zhao's character and what becomes
of her, and as a result the film does just enough
to merit a recommendation, albeit a minor one. |
