1996 Movie
Dir. Lee Chi-Ngai · Hong Kong · Cantonese, English
Three Hongkongers look for home in this hopeful handover drama
At one of the world’s largest shipping hubs, packages (and sometimes people) can get easily lost. It can be disheartening to lose something important, but that’s why it’s important to remember to check the lost and found. Through the titular niche industry, writer-director Lee Chi-Ngai crafts a existential love story that intertwines the lost souls of Hong Kong with a mournful melancholy marked with each repetition of Dance Me to the End of Love. It’s beautiful and depressing, and yet somehow Lee manages to tie all of the pieces together eloquently into something hopeful, despite the inevitable, if abrupt, ending.
A woman diagnosed with leukemia meets a Chinese-Scottish sailor who she loses contact with. In order to find him she enlists Worm, a man who runs a “lost and found” business, and the two set out to find what she’s looking for.
After being diagnosed with leukemia, Lam recruits Mr. Worm to trace down Ted, the Scottish sailor who she fell in love with. However, as Lam helps Mr. Worm solve some of his other cases, she finds herself increasingly charmed by her partner.
The cast. Takeshi Kaneshiro may not be part Mongolian, and Michael Wong may not be part Scottish in real life, but they both have excellent chemistry with leading lady Kelly Chen, making their love triangle feel so compelling to watch.
Admittedly, I watched this for Takeshi Kaneshiro, but I didn’t expect the emotional devastation…
Isabella Endrinal is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. She's now free from the corporate night shift. Previous articles have been published in outlets such as NANG Magazine. She's currently catching up on some classic films… if she isn't coping with the fact that the Haikyu anime will end soon.
Comments