Twelve Nights (2000) User Reviews

Cinema Omnivore - Twelve Nights (2000) 6.2/10

[lasttimeisaw · 6/10 · 28 May 2021]

"Even as fictional characters, Jeannie and Alan are devoid of personalities, or singularities to engage us, they're two ordinary people with their very common foibles, Alan's paternalistic, sexist view on woman is excruciatingly dated and exasperating, ergo, you might steadfastly rally behind Jeanine, which leaves Lam's strenuous unpicking of a modern relationship moot. You see, Alan is a chauvinistic pig, Jeannie deserves better, as a result, everything goes against Lam's supposedly it-takes-two-to-tango supposition (she is a silly girl who takes fortune telling as read.)"

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks.

Sparkling rosé

[harry_tk_yung · 16 April 2004]

Picked up this DVD during the Holiday Season and watched it in the middle of the 4 visits to the cinema on account of Return of The King over a period of three weeks. (The above gibberish was inserts to allow this piece to qualify for the minimum 10 lines for IMDB posting).

This romance-city-style flick is directed by Lam Oi-wah, one of the three young women directors in Hong Kong aspiring to be Sofia Copolla. The other two are Lai Miu-suet (Floating Landscape) and Barbara Wong (6th floor, rear flat). Moving along briskly, with two of the best young artists in town, 12 Nights goes down like a light Napa Valley sparkling rosé, depicting the couple's stumbling along the bitter sweet reality of relationships. Eason Chan's acting talent is sometimes obscured by his clowning around. Cecilia has since gone on to better things, including winning this year's Best Actress in Hong Kong's equivalent of the Oscar. Nice movie.

Loved it!

[aquariusqueen-31985 · 10/10 · 26 June 2023]

I watched the movie, entertained from the beginning to the end. I loved the cinematography, the plot, and decent acting EXCEPT the "relationship" between Alan and Jeannie. Though I thought Jeannie was a bad news because of the fortune telling from one of her friends about Jeannie's relationship is doomed, who knows if that was true, she jumped into conclusions about Johnny (her boyfriend from the beginning) without talking to him AT ALL and even broke up with him, y'all was I wrong. Though we know nothing about Johnny, Alan is the WORSE and here's why. He was so rude, didn't take accountability, sexist, and didn't show no love towards Jeannie- I was trying to see why she kept coming back to him? Had to be his purple eggplant, IT HAD TO BE, even her friend thought that as well after the two "broke up". Alan even thought about "breaking up" with her for a while, so why you keep stringing her along then? I was yelling at him and the girl at my tv and I was like-STAND UP JEANNIE. So after less than a month of "dating", it's been two months later right? She and Alan meet again at a restaurant. She tells him about her adventure at Europe/London (forgot which one it doesn't matter), her being lonely, and even missing him so you wanna know what Alan thought? Nothing because he was SLEEPING during the whole story, fking rude b*tch. So after that, they have s*x again because that's the ONLY thing they know from each other anyways. Two months later AGAIN, they are going on a trip to Hawaii so that means they are "together" again yay (sarcastic). BUT before that happens, Jeannie is packing her things and Johnny is helping her, after that, she finds out that Johnny didn't cheat after all...she looking fking stupid, d*mb a*s. So while Jeannie goes to visit Alan before trip to the vacation, she calls her friend who told the fortune telling, then Alan calls, then he says he loves her...but why though? Because of her vagi*a, may not be a fact, let's be fking honest. She goes back to calling her friend, she finally realizes. So I was confused then realized about her relationship being doomed wasn't with Johnny, it was with Alan. So she stops where she going and was like "fk this" so she is like bye. I was cheering her on, not wanting her to walk back to Alan, I was like "Keep walking girl KEEP WALKING". She finally gets away from Alan, hiding behind that first dude from the very beginning. So I don't know why they added him in the story, we only seen him one time so...I don't care lmao. Anyways, they talk and realize they both didn't like their exes, which Alan is now an ex, movie fades to black, it was the end, and I was clapping and hollering in happiness for my girl, Jeannie. I thought the cliche would be her and Alan finally gonna be together in the end, but I was wrong, what a twist and I love it! I won't watch this again but I had a great time watching it, despite not knowing more about the first dude and Johnny. Lesson: know y'all worth and leave if your lover don't treat you right!

A look at relationships.

[mysteryegg · 5/10 · 9 June 2002]

This movie goes through 12 significant nights (not consecutive nights) in a relationship between two characters. The movie offers some insight into the repetion involved in relationship cycles from interest through various tensions to eventual disinterest. There are many cute scenes, but it isn't exactly a life-changing movie.

No depth

[leekandham · 5/10 · 10 February 2003]

The idea was there, and probably it'd make a good book, but I'm afraid this is no Shakespeare, either literally or not.

Twelve Nights tells of the ups and downs of a relationship, not over 12 consecutive nights as the story might suggest, but 12 particular snapshots. Jeannie (Cecilia Cheung) turns up to her birthday party only to find that her boyfriend may be cheating on her. Meanwhile, Alan (Eason) and his girlfriend are on the verge of breakup. They meet after Jeannie's party, as Alan accompanies her back to her flat. A relationship blooms and eventually, the natural questions are asked.

The scenes in this film are unfortunately too short. Given that all Chinese films have this unwritten rule (or maybe it is written), that films have to be an hour and a half long and no longer, 12 nights only leaves on average 7.5 minutes for each night... As a consequence the characters can't really develop very much, and I'm left feeling that I wish I knew the characters a little bit more before the end. And that's the real downfall. For me, it appears there isn't that much the actors have to do except go through the motions. There is very little depth in the story.

Ultimately, though, this film was a stepping stone for two talented actors. Eason Chan and Cecilia Cheung have done well since and well deserved. But for this film, I'm afraid it's probably one to leave on the shelf unless you want the full collection of films of either actor.