La contessa bianca

The poignancy of this movie outweighs any shortcomings in the directorial department. I found myself immersed in the milieu of 1930's ShangHai, a place and time I had only read of and subsequently wondered about.

The real strength of this movie is the accessibility with which powerful emotion is portrayed. I found I had real empathy for the characters.

The characters were played superbly by one of the most pedigreed casts I've seen in a while.

The pace was slow, but measured and well-suited to the plot.

Ralph Fiennes was a convincing lead -- the image of him reminds me of TS Eliot mixed with Rick Blaine (Casablanca).

Natasha Richardson is brilliant in this role. Understated and quite believable.

All in all a beautiful, other worldly movie, and not for the faint-hearted.