Ngon na ma dak lin na (1998)

Director:

Chung Man Yee

Writer:

Ivy Ho (writer)

Release Date:

28 May 1998 (Singapore)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Two young men fall for the woman staying upstairs when she practises J.S. Bach's "Notebook for Anna Magdalena".

Plot Keywords:

Music | Writing

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Kelly Chen	...	Mok Man-Yee
Jacky Cheung	...	Policeman
Leslie Cheung	...	Editor
Chun Chung
Josie Ho
Takeshi Kaneshiro	...	Chan Kar-fu
Leo Ku
Aaron Kwok	...	Yau Muk-yan
Eric Tsang
Wei Wei
Anita Yuen	...	Assistant Editor

Also Known As:

Anna Magdalena

Runtime:

Japan:97 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Hong Kong:IIA | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Movie Connections:

References Brazil (1985)

Soulful bespectacled Takeshi's heart-breaking performance

This movie stars 3 Chinese pop stars, so on the surface, it's like a Chinese equivalent of such American teeny-bopper fare as Dawson's Creek. But of course, it's much better.

The story has a more thoughtful and philosophical bent to it, and doesn't have silly and manipulative romantic entanglements like its American counterparts. That is, no one whines about their broken heart very much - but you still feel the pain.

Takeshi Kaneshiro is the best of the 3 leads as a lovelorn but reserved loner, and he conveys a lot of emotion while being very subtle. The other 2 actors, Kelly Chan and Aaron Kwok, are fine, too.

The all-important novel that Takeshi's character writes fulfills its promise of being an artlessly simple but incredibly sweet love story.

I'm increasingly impressed by foreign movies and their ability to convey the complexity of love, while by contrast, most American movies seem to make it much simpler and less realistic. This movie is one such foreign movie.

Leslie Cheung & Anita Yuen have small but effective roles as 2 people touched by the novel that Chan Kar-fu (Takeshi) writes.