Eighteen Springs

A sublime melodrama by Hong Kong's most highly respected female director, based on a novel by the late Eileen Chang (whose Red Rose, White Rose was filmed by Stanley Kwan). Set in Shanghai in the '30s, the film chronicles the heartbreaking love affair of two office workers (Leon Lai and Wu Chien-Lin) whose romance is doomed by the forces of social and sexual hypocrisy, and by Wu's sister Anita Mui's chilling act of betrayal. Visually lush and beautifully layered - Hui's use of retrospective voice-overs recalls Wong Kar-Wai - this is a lyrical, poignant souvenir.