Customer Reviews

An Autumn's Tale (Remastered Edition) DVD

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A warm, sweet story about a shy young woman named Jennifer who leaves her family and upbringing in Hong Kong behind to study acting with her boyfriend in New York. She is introduced to New York by "Figurehead", who assigns himself the task of assisting his "4th aunt's 13th cousin" to settle down in the slums of her new hometown.

Shy and unsure of herself, Jennifer is assisted through homesickness, a bit of culture shock and a broken heart by "Figgy". Though he is uncouth and crude he is kind and faithful, unlike Jennifer's fickle upperclass boyfriend.

After many trials and tribulations, Figgy falls for Jennifer. Of course there are complications, and that's what this film is about: the complexities of love.

Chow Yun-Fat gives an outstanding performance as Figgy, and Cherie Chung is superlative as usual. This film won Best Picture at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 1988, and Chow and Chung were nominated as Best Actor and Actress respectively. Chow is very under-appreciated as a dramatic and comedic actor outside of Asia; anyone seeing this film or some of his other roles such as those in "Dream Lovers" and "All About Ah Long" will be convinced of his range.

Beautifully shot and directed with style and humanity. A good film for the entire family.

If you are a true Chow Yun Fat fan, then you will want to watch those movies beside the gun fights in which he is known for. From this film, and others like "All About Ah-Long," "Hong Kong, 1941," or "God of Gambles - I" you will realize that he really is an all-around great actor. He really cannot be categorized as only an action star, as Hollywood has seem to do so. With movies like "the Corruptor" and the low office box turnout in "Anna and the King" due to weak directing and the fact that everyone knows the story already, Hollywood is not introducing the real Chow to the American audience. So if you are his fan, stick to his older movies, although many of them are bad too.

This film is one of the best showcases for chow's talents as an actor. A great story about romance, very touching. It was a very lowbudget production from hong kong shot in NY with the help of NYU. I found the chemistry between Chow and Cherie very touching, and the lowbudget production make it seem all the more realistic. Great NY backdrop.

What is it about Chow Yun-Fat that makes you care about the character and what he goes through? I love this movie. They never kiss, there's nothing sexy about it. But this is one of the most romantic movies I've ever seen. I've never been to New York but I feel like I'm IN the story and feeling what they're feeling.

This drama shows that the more popular action
movies of Chow are a waste of his talent. (This review
is based on the Cantonese version.) Chow plays
"Ship-head", an ex-sailer who have settled in NY as a
waiter who is among a group of immigrants with low
social status. His love for
Chung ("Tea-pot") pressures him
to improve himself. Chow turns such a common and
physically unattractive role
into one of best loved figure in my culture. The
emotions of "Ship-head" was very well captured and
developed without exaggeration (e.g. the
3 laws and 5 goals in the mirror written on the mirror).
The above should be universal to all culture.
As a cantonese native living in the US,
the Cantonese puns and sayings are trademarks of Chow,
and the scenes on life as foreigners are wonderfully gems.

A friend commented once that he wondered if the theme of unrequited love is a recurring one in Asian films, to which I replied, but of course. As far as I can remember, the allure of romanticism is not so much in the happy ending of the couple who live happily ever after but in the thought of what could've been that stays forever. It is a romance that will never fade as it lives only in your mind.

So what has that got to do with this movie? This is a perfect example of that. This is a tale about a woman (Chung) who comes to New York to meet her lover. Instead of a ring, she gets snubbed for a richer, more sophisticated new girlfriend. The only person she knows in the entire country is a distant cousin (Chow), a rough ruffian who knows love as much as Tarantino does romantic movies. Slowly, a bond develops between the two bumbling losers and as fast as the love blossoms, the flame is extinguished when Chung moves on to take another job in other part of New York.

In the tradition of 'A Roman Holiday', the setting in a foreign land accentuates the romance. They are the perfect strangers who are pushed together by the force of circumstance. The chemistry between Chow and Chung work out great on screen and the acting, albeit low key, is very convincing. Chow is a master of turning an ordinary character into one that instantly engages you and strikes you as interesting.

I first watched this film when it was released. Years passed and I even forgot its title. I never forgot the movie though (although I did the ending). One day I decided that I wanted to see it again and looking at Chow's career history, I finally found the English title and managed to get my hands on a copy. Talk about something that lives in my mind forever.

As a new Chow Yun-Fat fan(after watching Anna and the King), I have rented or bought more of his movies and this oldie impressed me much more than his action flicks. No one falls in love on screen better than Chow Yun-Fat and I wish HOllywood would showcase his amazing talents in movies like this! My only complaint was that the english subtitles were hard to read or omitted in more than half of the movie.

Everyone knows Chou Yun-Fat as an action star, but in this film, you can see him as a character actor who can be funny and sad at the same time. This is his best in the non-action film category!

Great story, brilliantly performed by all. This is arguably Chow Yun-Fat's finest performance ever. All bravura to most in the film, his character shows the most gentle nature when he thinks no one is looking. It was amazing to watch him fall hopelessly in love with Cherie Cheung. Most touching was the scene where he chases after her car, not to catch up with her, but to just to get a chance to look at her one more time.

Now, I LOVED "The Killer" and "God of Gamblers" just like everyone else, but please do not expect this to be one of Chow's "heroic bloodshed" roles. This film has far more substance and a much bigger payoff. Don't miss it!

This movie kicks ass when it compares a lot of love stories produced in the 90's in Hong Kong. When you watch an autumn's tale, you will feel attached to Cherry and Chow. All the warm, touching and beautiful scenes taking place in New York(dirty places as well), you will love it.

I really hate the way that Chow acts right now in the Hollywood. I like action movie, but I don't why people keep copying John Woo's style movie with a weak plot and production. It makes Chow like a violent actor or something. Let me tell you Chow is not like that, and i recommend other American Fans who love Chow Yun Fat to watch his old movies which were made in the late 80's. Something like "All About Ah Long" and this "An Autumn's Tale" are my favorite.