Spoilers
I have heard too many radio interviews of the three leading ladies to be immune from their effect. The deeply ingrained concept, before I saw the movie, was that 20 is about having all the time in the world and nothing to lose, 30 is about crossroads and choices and 40 is about having no choice and hence complete liberation. While there is a fair amount of truth in these generalizations, there is not much originality.
The movie is made up of three stories (or sketches, which would be a better description), written separately by the three actresses Sylvia Chang (40), Rene Liu (30) and Lee Sinje (20). Obviously, one would not expect the brilliant interconnection of the three as in Inarritu's films. The three sketches are independent and whatever links we see are entirely inconsequential. One thought that I have though (my own, not from listening to the radio interviews), is that these three could very well be the same person, at different cross-sections of her life.
Of the three sketches, 30 and 40 depict things that work themselves through daily, if not hourly, in all big cities in every continent: a flight attendant at a crossroad with her romantic interludes and a divorcee searching for a new balance in her life. With limited scope to work with, the two award-winning actresses do whatever they can with some good results here and there. They did not get much help though. 30's two romantic objects are mere cardboard, although the final encounter gets a bit better. 40's episode oscillates between run-of-the-mill comedy and occasional nice touches.
Back to the radio interview, Lee Sinje said that when she delivered her script to director Sylvia Chang, she wasn't sure if it would be accepted. Without even blinking, Chang took it. This sketch of 20 is certainly more refreshing than the other two, tackling the relationship between two girls that tread subtly between friendship and sexual love. The performance of Lee, also award-winning, does not suffer in comparison with Chang and Liu, although all three might be said to be `acting themselves', to a degree. Worth mentioning is Kate Yeung who, playing the other girl, is billed in the credit under `Introducing'. Based on her performance, she has every right to be billed as the fourth lead. A star-studded supporting cast (Anthony Wong, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Ren Xian Qi) ensures a good draw. On the opening night I went to, there were a lot of laughs from people who must have felt compelled to laugh simply because Anthony Wong was speaking a line.
While on the whole somewhat sketchy, the movie is enjoyable, but not as good as director Chang's previous work Xin Dong (1999) which goes considerably deeper into the characters.
I have heard too many radio interviews of the three leading ladies to be immune from their effect. The deeply ingrained concept, before I saw the movie, was that 20 is about having all the time in the world and nothing to lose, 30 is about crossroads and choices and 40 is about having no choice and hence complete liberation. While there is a fair amount of truth in these generalizations, there is not much originality.
The movie is made up of three stories (or sketches, which would be a better description), written separately by the three actresses Sylvia Chang (40), Rene Liu (30) and Lee Sinje (20). Obviously, one would not expect the brilliant interconnection of the three as in Inarritu's films. The three sketches are independent and whatever links we see are entirely inconsequential. One thought that I have though (my own, not from listening to the radio interviews), is that these three could very well be the same person, at different cross-sections of her life.
Of the three sketches, 30 and 40 depict things that work themselves through daily, if not hourly, in all big cities in every continent: a flight attendant at a crossroad with her romantic interludes and a divorcee searching for a new balance in her life. With limited scope to work with, the two award-winning actresses do whatever they can with some good results here and there. They did not get much help though. 30's two romantic objects are mere cardboard, although the final encounter gets a bit better. 40's episode oscillates between run-of-the-mill comedy and occasional nice touches.
Back to the radio interview, Lee Sinje said that when she delivered her script to director Sylvia Chang, she wasn't sure if it would be accepted. Without even blinking, Chang took it. This sketch of 20 is certainly more refreshing than the other two, tackling the relationship between two girls that tread subtly between friendship and sexual love. The performance of Lee, also award-winning, does not suffer in comparison with Chang and Liu, although all three might be said to be `acting themselves', to a degree. Worth mentioning is Kate Yeung who, playing the other girl, is billed in the credit under `Introducing'. Based on her performance, she has every right to be billed as the fourth lead. A star-studded supporting cast (Anthony Wong, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Ren Xian Qi) ensures a good draw. On the opening night I went to, there were a lot of laughs from people who must have felt compelled to laugh simply because Anthony Wong was speaking a line.
While on the whole somewhat sketchy, the movie is enjoyable, but not as good as director Chang's previous work Xin Dong (1999) which goes considerably deeper into the characters.