For its first hour, Anna Magdalena sets a
fairly straightforward course. Lonely piano tuner (Kaneshiro
Takeshi) allows charming ne'er do well (Aaron Kwok) to move in with
him. Lovely piano-playing lady (Kelly Chen) moves into their
building; lonely piano tuner falls for her but does nothing, charming
ne'er do well falls for her and takes action, lonely piano tuner pines
away, etc. The stately pace is offset by the beautiful photography
by Peter Pau (evidently the film was mostly shot in Vietnam).
Director Hai Chung Man's 17 years as an art director are certainly evident
in the overall good looks of the film. Music by Bach provides
accompaniment and divides the movie into different "movements"
in harmony with the music.
Then the film takes a sudden left turn into uncharted
and unsteady territory under the musical heading of
"variations." I was left at the train station by the
shift. While this entire sequence looks sumptuous, it's so out of
character with the rest of the film that it doesn't jell. For me, I
was left scratching my head. It's a noble attempt to do something
different with the genre, but ultimately the pieces don't fit
together. The ending is equally unsatisfactory.
DVD: look, sound, and features
Very good picture quality but a number of noticeable
blemishes, or blotches. Colors are bright, fleshtones are natural,
blacks are deep. This DVD looks gorgeous. The soundtrack is
clear and the music is beautiful.
Widescreen (1:85), Cantonese/Mandarin DD 5.1 audio tracks,
multilingual subtitles (traditional & simplified Chinese, English).
The subtitles are white with black blacking and were very easy to
read. Includes mini-biographies for the three main stars, director,
and producer.
Buy, rent, or pass?
An interesting, gorgeous-looking failure. Probably
worth a rental for the experience, but not in the top-tier of
recommendations even for rental.
