July Rhapsody (2002)

AKA: Nam Yan Sei Sap
Directed by: Ann Hui
Starring: Jacky Cheung (Lam), Anita Mui (Ching), Karena Lam (Wu), Shaun Tam (Older son), Jin Hui (Younger son), Eric Kot (Yue), Tou Chung-hua (Shing)
Country: Hong Kong; Effed Up Asian Films
Language: Cantonese (Eng Subs); Effed Up Hong Kong-Chinese-Taiwan Films
Runtime: 01:42:58
Genres: Old-Young Relationships

Plot – Spoilers:
A school-topper’s love for literature and poetry coupled with a unique set of circumstances forces him into early wedlock and a job as a Hong Kong school teacher. All his peers from his school days are now rich and socially successful, but Lam rarely feels inadequate. Perhaps, as the father of two grown sons, it’s too late now to feel the weight of crushed dreams and all those years of pain between highschool and now may have blunted the edge off the I coulda beens. There is the odd occasion though, like a reunion, when the pain returns, but otherwise, Lam is fairly content and shares an easy relationship with his sons and students. With the wife though, it’s one of polite tolerance.

Lam is self-reflective and clued in to his own frailties and bullshit and also frank and open about it to whoever will listen. And while it might be hard for some teachers to watch fresh batches of hope, enthusiasm and possibilities pass them by every year, Lam isn’t cynical or bitter when it comes to the future of his students. This makes him attractive to most, in particular, one of his female students who has a raw flair for poetry. And therein lies his struggle.

This is an extraordinarily beautiful work from one of the pioneers of the New Wave of Hong Kong cinema.

Random Thoughts – Massive spoilers:
If you strip out all the frills, Lam wanted to fuck Wu and she, in her own words, always got what she wanted. So at the end, when she gifts him her class notes, it’s a way of closing this chapter in a manner agreeable to both.

Random Trivia:
The director of July Rhapsody, Ann Hui, played a small part as a director in the Taiwanese film, The River (1997).