Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Sadly Over-hyped

People are voting emotionally.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Not many films can keep me watching until almost 2am, but this is one of them. I found it captivating from the beginning. It is fairly well scripted, and very well acted - notably Vicky Chen's performance I think. It concerns the story of Chinese immigrants etching out an existence in London. You'll be wanting to watch it to the end to find out how their lives turn out. I thought that the perspective of a foreign language film, shot entirely in London, was an interesting premise. Usually seeing a foreign language film - this one in Chinese - I'd expect to see it shot in the home country. Making a British film but scripting it almost entirely in Chinese was a gamble on the filmmaker's part, but one that paid off in my opinion.

I was born in England of Chinese parents - in the course of living in London I've met people exactly like the Chinese immigrants depicted in this film. I think the scripting, plot and cultural characterisation are excellent; the mixture of repression and deep emotion among Chinese people is well drawn, and is something that is, ironically, easier to show than describe.There are a number of elements within the film that counterpoint the main plot - the moon theme, the noisiness of Chinese people, the music (although more could have been made of Lan Lan's engagement with her flue playing).In particular, the mixture of the extremely traditional Chinese attitudes with the pragmatism of the survival struggle and the changed character of the new generation make the film compelling watching.If you understand Chinese, the various dialects, accents and different forms of speech (this is something very true of Farewell My Concubine, where the old-fashioned speech of the aristocrat has a direct emotional impact) are an added pleasure in highlighting the cultural contrasts / juxtapositions.

A simple but very realistic film, beautifully lit and well crafted..great performances and invaluable insight into Chinese culture and of immigrant experiences in London.It uses archetypal Chinese story themes...love doomed because of duties and responsibilities...honour, and strong bonds of loyalty between friends which are immutable...when these are broke the consequences are often tragic.I loved...and learnt a lot about this community...a great template for a film really , it would be good to see similar film about other minorities, to help illustrate we are all the same.

Culture clashes, relationship problems, very well enacted. Subtle play by beautiful Chinese actress. I rate it 9 on 10.