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Lost in Time (2003)

Ever since Fly me to Polaris Cecilia Cheung has been known as the tear-jerking woman in from Asian cinema. In Lost in Time she is at it again and this time she has again been nominated for the best actress award at the 23rd Hong kong Film Awards.

Here, Cecilia plays Siu Wai, fiancee of bus driver Ah Man whose wife has ran away after giving birth to their son, Lok Lok. Siu Wai treats Lok Lok as her son, yet he calls her aunt. When Ah Man has a fatal accident right in the beginning of the film, Siu Wai is left alone with Lok Lok to take care after. After a while of grieving she decides to have the bus repaired and take on her late lover's job for a living while Lok Lok attends kindergarten. Her family however are against her decisions and although her parents secretly support her, they do not show any interest in her anymore. She is left on her own.

Then she meets Dai Fai (Lau Ching Wan) who works as a bus driver at the same station. He was with Ah Man when he died and happens to still have his mobile phone which he returns to Siu Wai. Knowing her situation, he feels pity and starts helping her out in her everyday's life. He looks after Lok Lok while Siu Wai drives on her night shift and does some house work such as cooking etc. He even lends her money when it comes to paying the kindergarten fee and the rent for the flat.

As the story evolves, we start learning more and more about Lau Ching Wan's character which he plays great by the way. His life isn't exactly a happy one neither. However, he manages to survive and he does whatever he can so he can forget his past.

Director Derek Yee (also nominated as best director) shows that even a simple storyline like this can still be emotionally touching, even nowadays where in cities like Hong Kong nobody seems to care for others and only follows his own business. When Ah Man dies right In the beginning of the film you feel sad even though we don't know anything about Cecilia Cheung's character and you still haven't built up any feelings for her. Just the expression of her face will let you feel what she thinks. She is mixed up and it her fiancee's death is unfathomable to her, yet a whole world seems to collaps in her eyes. Wonderfully made!

It is hard to see Siu Wai work night and day to get through Lok Lok and herself. Getting scolded by passengers, hunted by triad members not accepting her to load passengers in their district and receiving fake banknotes for which she gives change and getting tickets by police officers might belong to what we call life, but seeing Siu Wai enacted by tender Cecilia is a lot to bear as an observer.

The soundtrack of course adds a lot to the dramatic scenes and although Cecilia doesn't cry as much as she did in Fly me to Polaris, it is her facial expressions combined with the musical score that will make you feel what she does. Sometimes her face is even expressionless because she doesn't want Lok Lok to know that something is wrong. These moments are actually the most touching ones. If you consider yourself as a person that easily pities people, you might not want to watch this film as it will certainly bring tears to your eyes, especially if you have a lot to do with childs.

The love story that evolves between Siu Wai and Dai Fai seems a bit too rushed if you consider that she just lost her fiancee. However, as the film goes on it becomes more and more realistic.

In terms of acting I'll have to say that those are honestly the best performances by Cecilia Cheung and Lau Ching Wan I have seen so far. I didn't really enjoy any of the Running out of Time-films which many fans claim to showcase Lau's best performance so far. Here he is a normal man in a usual story however. A man who doesn't stand against triad members but rather avoids them and recommends Siu Wai to do the same if she wants to keep on working as a bus driver. Cecilia Cheung on the other side plays the inexperienced busdriver that due to tragical circumstances became a single parent or rather a lonely stepmother.

If you enjoyed Fly me to Polaris, Lost in Time is definitely a film you will want to watch and I hope to see a lot more of such films with Cecilia. It is great following her career as an actress after having been a fan of her songs. She gets better and better with each film she does and Lost in Time is definitely a showcase to persuade people who never regarded her as convincing enough. The same goes for Lau Ching Wan as he finally convinced me with his performance and I am looking forward to seeing more from him. On top of that, the film is nominated for 9 awards at the HK Film Awards. If you like dramatic films, you can't go wrong with Lost in Time. 

Written on February 22nd 2004

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