July Rhapsody

The Chinese title suggests a companion-piece to Hui's Summer Snow: in Chinese that was called 'A Woman at Forty' and this is 'A Man at Forty'. What the two films have in common is a keen sense of middle-aged bewilderment and exasperation, not the usual substance of HK movies these days. Lam Yiu-Kwok (Cheung) is a secondary-school teacher facing two emotional crises. His wife Man-Ching (Mui, remarkable) needs time away from him to come to terms with the impending death of her first boyfriend, who fathered her first child. At the same time, in school, he faces a barrage of flirtation from precocious pupil Choi-Nam (newcomer Lam, clearly a star in the making), who claims to be in love with him and knows very well that she could get him into serious trouble. Restrained, grown-up drama, not especially exciting, but engagingly written, acted and directed.