I knew virtually nothing about this Chinese film in advance and I am not all that much the wiser having seen it. It is unusual among the Chinese films that reach the West insofar as it is a fairly simple love story, albeit a confusing one. Gong Li now past the first flush of beauty evident in her earlier films, but still a fine actress, plays a porcelain painter. On a train journey she meets poet Tony Leung (not the Hong Kong superstar of the same name, but the one out of "The Lovers") and indeed begins a passionate romance with him which requires her to make the long train journey twice weekly to the far-off city where he lives. On one of these trips she also meets a cheeky vet (who doubts her lover's existence), and when the poet's day job moves him to Tibet, she begins a tentative relationship with the vet as well. On the train we periodically see another woman with different hair, but also played by Gong Li, whose role is something of a mystery. The film addresses love, both genuine and imagined, longing, and quite possibly reality in an elliptical way, but I found it hard to get a grip on the themes. The one thing that did leave a wonderful impression was the cinematographer's love affair with the changing scenery along the train's route.
Yes, it's been a year since the last London Film Festival which starts tomorrow night. I have only pre-booked eight movies this year, mainly ones which are unlikely to get a wide cinema release, and I shall be reporting accordingly over the next fortnight. If any of you are in the London area, there is still plenty of availability to indulge any curiosity you may have.
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