LOVE IN MACAU (2007-HK)
review by Neo




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A painter should just stick to painting…
It goes to show that being an artist does not make you a credible filmmaker overnight. Being able to paint a picture is one thing and being able to shoot a picture is another. In one of the worst marketing techniques ever in HK cinema history, the DVD cover of this film shows Alex and Stephy in love, when in fact Stephy is nothing more than a glorified cameo. This is an act of false and misleading advertising that will certainly leave more buyers annoyed than satisfied. It is worth noting that the main purpose of this film is to capture the beauty of Macau, but somehow the painter-turned director has made that aspect seemingly elusive. Many of the camera angles tend to drags along at a slow and boring pace as the film is filled with unnecessarily and badly produced shots. It is a shame that Alex and Stephy are not allowed to display their already proven chemistry together, but rather teaming up Alex with a relatively unknown and plain looking mainland chick seems almost like a wasted opportunity. The movie ends up in a redeeming manner, but the muddled three quarters made the film extremely detachable. Perhaps, the painter is trying to prove the saying wrong: “a picture paints a thousand words…”, then again Neo would hardly care.

The movie goes like this: A Mainland Chinese refugee (Aixinjueluo Qixin, descendent of China's last emperor) falls in love with a local Macau guy (Alex Fong), without knowing that her friend (Stephy Tang) has been his secret admirer for years...

In all trustiness, reviewing this flick is an absolute waste of time and having wasted a good 90 minutes already, Neo is not preparing to waste additional sleeping minutes. Alex Fong tries to carry the film, but ultimately fails to lift the material from its dust hole. As mentioned before, Stephy Tang is given nothing more than a glorified cameo with the ultimate aim of duping fans of the duo into a marketing strategy.

All in all, it is disappointing to realise that Love in Macau is a once in a lifetime Macau production and while one would think that the government would love to use this opportunity to promote the city, the film captures all that is ugly and boring about a beautiful city. Sure the film possesses a sort of redeeming finale, but a few minutes at the end of a flick does not make a film. Love in Macau is certainly a movie that is extremely hard to find anything to recommend, but at least it shows that a painter should just hold a brush, rather than a camera…

I rate it 3.5/10

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Starring: Alex Fong | Stephy Tang | AisinGioro Qixing
Directed by: Chen Yifeng
Genre: History/Romance