A Moment of Romance

Summary

“I only came looking for you because it’s my birthday today.”

Over the past year, Radiance Films has done a great job of building up their reputation as a film distributor of note. They have released several interesting films this year that tap into different cinema styles from all over the world. With A Moment of Romance, Radiance has released one of the most successful films in Hong Kong cinema of the Nineties on Blu-ray from a brand new 4K scan. A Moment of Romance helped to establish Andy Lau as a star of Chinese cinema. The film did over 13 Million HK (Hong Kong dollars,) and spawned two sequels. Benny Chan directed the film capably exemplifying strong influences from the three producers of the picture – Johnny To, Ringo Lam, and Jing Wong. The film mixes the genres of crime story and melodramatic romance, flipping between two opposing tones frequently. The film has many elements that seem particular to that time (1990) and place, which will stick out to viewers. I watched the film the other night, and was happy to see that it was yet another strong pick for Radiance from Francesco Simeoni.

Triad member and orphan Wah Dee (Andy Lau) rides his Suzuki motorcycle with a gang of bikers. The group gets busted up by the cops but Wah escapes the police. Arriving at the rendezvous point, where numerous celebrants are gathered, Wah Dee is pulled into a car. One of the triad’s young leaders, Trumpet (Kwong-Leung Wong) wants him to do a task for the brotherhood. He needs him to be a driver on a job. It is known that Trumpet dislikes Wah Dee. Wah agrees to the job because he also wants to please Big Brother, an older triad member and his mentor. The next day, Wah Dee waits in the car outside a jewelry store while Trumpet and his goons, wearing pantyhose on their heads, violently rob the store. While the robbery is taking place, a police van pulls up behind Wah Dee’s vehicle. Wah intentionally hits the police car numerous times with his car to force the police into a chase. Wah drives away and then swings back around and picks up Trumpet and his men. Wah drops them off quickly, and then continues the chase. After crashing his car, Wah kidnaps a girl named JoJo (Chien-Lien Wu) and steals an onlooker’s car. Wah heads to the meeting place in the high hills away from the city. Wah tells the girl to stay down while he meets with the men. He meets with Trumpet, and Trumpet doesn’t give him his full cut from the heist. JoJo leans up from her seat, and the gang reacts by drawing guns and threatening to kill her. She has seen their faces. Wah takes the responsibility of the girl and they tell him to kill her. Wah burns the car and takes the girl back down the mountain on his Suzuki. He drops her off at her house. Wah bumps into his “Uncle” Rambo (Man-Tat Ng) who tells him that Trumpet got picked up by the cops and they think Wah is a snitch. Trumpet’s accomplices attempt an attack on Wah and the cops bring them to the station. At the station, JoJo is brought in to identify her captor. She does not identify anybody. Trumpet is still suspicious of her, and says to Wah that he can just have his brothers kill her. JoJo leaves the police station and is ambushed. Wah saves her, but he stabs one of the brothers to do so. JoJo and Wah start a romance that puts them both in the crosshairs of the gang members and also goes against the best wishes of JoJo’s wealthy parents.

When I was growing up, I watched a good amount of Asian cinema, but it was more often than not Japanese cinema. My Hong Kong cinema I watched was mainly relegated to Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, or John Woo films. In recent years, I have enjoyed being exposed to more cinema from that region. Recently numerous Johnny To films have seen the light of day on Blu-ray and Criterion recently released the Infernal Affairs Trilogy and a massive Wong Kar-Wai box set. This is of course on top of the numerous Shaw Brothers films that have been released recently, or the numerous martial arts films championed by 88 Films or Eureka. Because I have become interested in Hong Kong crime films, I was excited to watch A Moment of Romance. 

When watching the film, it becomes almost immediately apparent that this film is very much a product of its time and place. The soundtrack by Ta-Yu Lo is melodramatic and at times a little bit cheesy, but it lines up with how the soundtracks sounded at that time. I find these types of soundtracks bring out a little bit of nostalgia in me. The stylistic choices of the fashions in the film and the direction of the film also hew back to the early Nineties. I appreciated the ways in which color is used in the film. Cinematographers Kwong-Hung Joe Chan and Wing-Hang Hong cast the city in numerous yellows, pinks, and blues when they are not highlighting the neon signs consistently present in the city. The film benefits visually from the array of colors on display and helps to accentuate the romantic quality of the picture. Director Benny Chan does a solid job of blending the melodramatic aspects of the film with the strongly choreographed action set pieces. The heist in the film is quick and violent, and the car chase that follows is very well done. Until watching this film, I had never seen truck races where women are placed on top of the truck holding onto metal bars while the trucks race around a track with hopes of causing their competition to wreck. It’s crazy to view, and makes for a couple of the most unique sequences in the film.  

The actors in the film are all well cast for their roles. This film helped to make Andy Lau a star, and I have enjoyed his later work in such films as Infernal Affairs and Running Out of Time. His performance stands out. Chien-Lien Wu is believable as the damsel in distress in love with her captor. Kwong-Leung Wong capably plays the villainous Trumpet. I hated his character from the moment he showed up onscreen, which is an impressive feat. Rounding out the cast, Man-Tat Ng is memorable as the street working “Uncle” Rambo. Benny Chan did his best to elevate the material and draw good performances from his actors. Tonally, the film shifts around frequently, but fans of Asian Cinema should find a lot to enjoy about A Moment of Romance. James Yuen’s script draws on elements as old as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and as recent as John Woo’s early crime films. While certain moments of the film feel out of place when viewing now (the romantic montages in particular feel very dated,) the overall effect of the picture is well carried out with a solid climax.

This release features an excellent piece by David Desser that discusses the influence of Johnny To, Ringo Lam, and Jing Wong on the directing by Benny Chan. If you watch the film, I can not recommend that piece highly enough. It is fantastic. The Radiance Blu-ray of A Moment of Romance easily earns a recommendation for fans of Hong Kong cinema that don’t mind a little romance mixed in with their action.

Video

Radiance Films presents A Moment of Romance in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio in 1080p from a new 4K transfer. The transfer was provided by L’immagine Rittrovata Asia and then additional color correction was performed by Radiance. Radiance has done an excellent job of working with the materials provided. The film was shot in Hong Kong in 1990, and its overall look reflects the original filming materials used at that time. Fine detail is pretty good most of the time, but some softness from the original limitations of the film stock comes across at times. Radiance has brought the very best out of the materials, and the film has a lot of colorful moments that truly shine. There is a fine grain over the proceedings that looks filmic and good. I did not notice any glaring compression issues. This is another well done transfer from Radiance.

Audio

Radiance Films have provided a restored LPCM mono track. The mono track sounded pretty good to my ears. As long as one tempers their expectations in terms of immersion, this track should suffice. The soundtrack by Ta-Yu Lo Comes across well.

Supplements:

• Benny Chan – the deceased director talks about his career in an archival audio interview done by Arnaud Ianuque from 2016. 
• In Love and Danger: HK Cinema Through A Moment of Romance – in this excellent visual essay by David Desser, he discusses the influence of Johnny To, Ringo Lam, and Jing Wong on the direction of the film by Benny Chan. He focuses on three genre tropes: Melodrama, crime film, and heroic bloodshed. Using those frameworks he discusses the films of the producers that may have impacted Chan’s stylings. If you watch the film, I can not recommend that piece highly enough. It is fantastic.
• Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng – Frank Djeng is a well known authority on Hong Kong cinema and he provides numerous interesting facts about the filmmaker, stars, and production.
• Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.25/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 4.25/5

A Moment of Romance is another strong genre offering from Radiance Films. Fans of Hong Kong cinema should find a lot to enjoy about the film, as long as they can appreciate the melodramatic elements of the picture alongside the strong crime story and action setpieces. This film helped Andy Lau to become a superstar in Hong Kong and inspired two sequels. I really enjoyed the use of color and overall look of the film. The film is certainly a product of its time and has numerous tonal shifts that some might find jarring, but I really enjoyed it overall. The picture quality and audio quality are solid with some extremely well thought out special features. Fans of the film should find David Desser’s video essay extremely informative. Recommended!