Customer Reviews

Autumn Moon

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I saw this movie at the Sundance Film Festival, and still consider it one of the better finds from that year. As another reviewer has written, nothing much happens in this movie. But if you like a certain kind of foreign film, of the sort like those made by Ozu or Kiarostami, then you'll probably like this movie. It's about the brief intersection of two characters, one worldly and world-weary, lost and casting about for his purpose, and one a young girl just figuring out who she is, having her first crushes on boys, on the verge of emigrating from Hong Kong to Canada. Nothing even remotely romantic ever happens between them, but they manage to become very unlikely friends who bring warmth and kindness to one another during difficult periods in both their lives. It's by no means a typical feel-good film--it's not sentimental in the least. It's a very quiet movie, with a deft touch, but in the end I found it very moving.

I saw this movie at the Sundance Film Festival, and still consider it one of the better finds from that year. As another reviewer has written (about the DVD version), nothing much happens in this movie. But if you like a certain kind of foreign film, of the sort like those made by Ozu or Kiarostami, then you'll probably like this movie. It's about the brief intersection of two characters, one worldly and world-weary, lost and casting about for his purpose, and one a young girl just figuring out who she is, having her first crushes on boys, on the verge of emigrating from Hong Kong to Canada. Nothing even remotely romantic ever happens between them, but they manage to become very unlikely friends who bring warmth and kindness to one another during difficult periods in both their lives. It's by no means a typical feel-good film--it's not sentimental in the least. It's a very quiet movie, with a deft touch, but in the end I found it very moving.

if you want to understand more some of the heritage and the issues facing traditional asia, this is the movie for you. real modern poetry.

Autumn Moon is a Hong Kong 1992 film that is not easily understood, simple with no substance, dragged out, and just plain boring. This is clearly a film that many will not enjoy, including devoted foreign film buffs. The viewer cannot attach to the characters, nothing to like or dislike, nothing to feel.

And, I believe viewers may miss the intention of the director, Clara Law. According to the brochure insert, Clara Law is a storyteller of displacement and transmigration. The two words relate to the photographer who has come to Hong Kong and meets a 15 year old girl whose family has left for Canada. They speak English throughout the film and of nothing important; she takes him for a dinner at her home where her aging grandmother lives.

But on the other side, the photographer is looking for food and bargains in Hong Kong, and he also finds sex with an old girlfriend's sister. There is a sexual act and some nudity. So, the story goes back and forth, two the young girl and then the girl he has sex with. So, nothing exciting occurs.

What is interesting is the way this film was shot, all in a pale blue light. There are no vibrant colors, just images of blue. Also, the background shots hardly represent the bustling overcrowded Hong Kong. What you see are wide shots of buildings galore, bluish oddly shaped or unique buildings.

Again, this is a strange and/or boring movie!! .....Rizzo