When So-so moved to Hong Kong and started high school, she quickly became best friends with Nancy, who was more than happy to introduce her to the rest of her family. Even though So-so was living with her aunt, her cousin was terrifyingly obsessed with her. Everyone becomes friends when they all meet their half-Japanese classmate Jiang-Jia. So and Nancy were so obsessed with him that they had to take turns ‘accidentally’ running into him after school. Fortunately, they all managed to keep track of each other’s phone numbers and went to a theme park together. After that, they took a taxi back home together, and then it all turned into a confusing mess. So-so, Nancy and Jiang Jia lost contact with each other and didn’t speak for several years. When they did end up speaking years later, both Nancy and So-so had developed different feelings towards Jiang-jia.
There are many unanticipated parts of the movie and So-and Yonfan’s So‘s writing, this one seems unusual: there is not much romance in this film, and when it does appear, it is delicate and soft in nature as one would expect from a light romantic comedy, unlike the rest of the major components here which happen to be the friendship between the two girls and historical events of Hong Kong.
Because of this, Jiang-jia’s personality, like that of Shingo Tsurumi as well, struggles throughout the film in spite of him being quite noticeably handsome, but in this regard, it is true that it applies to most female characters in the film, thus making the film quite conservative yet realistic at the same time.
In my opinion, the relationship the two girls share is the best part in “Last Romance”. It is a showcase of pure reconstruction of identity as the pair begins as copy pastes of each other, but with time embrace their differences, with Yonfan accentuating the point both by their demeanor and dressing style. She loses her father while she is still very young and since she does not possess family help, she has no alternative but to look after herself and secures employment right after graduation from school. While that happens, Nancy chooses to study fashion first and work later. So so is therefore quickly employed as a hostess and later gets numerous clients who spoil her, and this enables her to sustain an extremely sophisticated way of life, whilst, nonetheless, gives up her desires and needs on the altar of wealth.
Her wedding becomes the apex of her emotions as Yonfan depicts her perfectly in her never-ending tale of moving into her most recent of apartments and finally into houses.
However, regardless of the way society reacts to her choices, like in the case of Nancy’s father who asks her to not go near Nancy once he discovers that she has a job at a nightclub, So-so is the first one who gets to maturity and selflessness quickly. While Cherie on the other hand stays a little girl, all her years sans a boyfriend and over dramatic behavior that accompanies Jiang-jia’s return to her something which So-so quite quickly ignores and cherishes her all the more for it.
Lastly, through brief encounters, or sometimes long sequences Yonfan’s narration of Hong Kong’s past as well as the effects that some of the major events that transpired in that decade had on the lives of the characters, plays out seamlessly.
The events that surrounded the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the 1980s real estate market explosion and the resulting collapse all converged, with a contrasting impact on people who gained wealth during the decade. So-so’s social circle illustrates the damage done to the elite class, while Cherie’s dad appears to represent the transformation middle class sales and purchases have undergone based on the real estate market. The irony that So-so criticizes the techniques used while looking to hang out with her wealthy friend is perhaps lost on Nancy’s father, an aggressive business member, debating So-so’s methods However implying blame in that sphere is poor sore of politics. Lau Siu-Ming in the role is excellent, stealing the show every time he appears on the screen.
With regards to this aspect of the film, so about a So-So In more detail So-So meets with a rich friend offers him.
Consequently, the director also illustrates quite well how a woman in that era had only one way of leading a comfortable life by taking advantage of the men in her vicinity and So-so again exemplifies that aspect quite well. Still, there are the consequences of some of the decisions most people make in their lives, which forms the most interesting detail of the film.
According to them, the leaders of the country believed that because of their heavy workload, their two main women in the movie, Cherie Chung as So-so and Maggie Cheung as Nancy, have performed extremely well. They say that those parts were extremely entertaining, animating the friendship that develops between them and that survives all the stress and lessons in their lives after all the differences between them is displayed. Their presence in the movie is a major source of attraction as they exude sheer charisma and beauty alongside an amazing chemistry.
The set of Hong Kong never gets boring in Jingle Ma cinematography as several other locations shots keep the already cool theme in perfect consistency, the theme park scenes and other beach shots look particularly nice. The film has a more general narrative driving the audience, as a result of Ma Kam’s editing style that I would say is provocatively fast.
The placement of the flashbacks is decent yet clashes with the pacing issues at times, especially after the girl’s graduation.
True, ‘Last Romance’ may come off as or indeed actually be naïve on certain occasions. The rest of the movie, however, has an ingenious narrative as far as social commentaries are concerned though the chemistry and complete movie of both characters is enough for one to want to watch a picture that has indeed stood the test of time.
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