The film is based on Eileen Chang’s novel “Half a Life (Eighteen Spring)”, which is set in Shanghai in the 1930s and tells a very sadistic love story of a pair of lovers played by Leon Lai and Cynthia Ng, with a strong cast including Leon Lai, Cynthia Ng, Anita Mui, Ge You and so on, and Cynthia’s looks and temperament are very much like that of Anita Mui, almost as if they were sisters, and she was born in a cold and proud shell! She was born with a cold and proud body, she didn’t need to act at all, as long as she stood there, she was already a character in Eileen Chang’s writing.
1997 / Hong Kong, China / Drama Romance / Ann Hui / Lai Ming Wu Qianlian
In 1930s Shanghai, Shijun (Leon Lai) and Manzhen (Wu Qianlian), who work in the same factory, become lovers.
Manzhen lost her father at an early age, and her sister Manlu (Anita Mui), in order to support her family, was heartbroken to leave her lover to work as a dancer to earn money, and eventually married a married man, Zhu Hongcai (Ge You).
When Shijun receives an urgent letter from his family and returns to Nanjing, he realizes that his family has recalled him only for the purpose of getting him married.
Because of his weak character and the long wait for Manzhen’s letter, Shijun eventually marries Cuizhi (Wu Chenjun), a woman he doesn’t like from the same family.
In Shanghai, Manlu, who is infertile, tries to protect her position by making Manzhen pregnant with Zhu Hongcai’s child, thus burying Manzhen’s love with Shijun.
After Man Lu’s death, Man Zhen is committed to Zhu Hong Cai for the sake of her child.
After Man Lu’s death, Man Zhen devotes herself to Zhu Hong Cai for the sake of her baby.
