Tian mi mi (1996)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Peter Chan

Writer:

Ivy Ho (writer)

Release Date:

2 November 1996 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Jun arrives in Hong Kong from mainland China, hoping to be able to earn enough money to marry his girlfriend back home...

Plot Keywords:

Hong Kong | Love | First Love

Awards:

22 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Leon Lai	...	XiaoJun Li
Maggie Cheung	...	Qiao Li
Eric Tsang	...	Pao Au-Yeung
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Len Berdick	...	U.S. Immigration Officer
Tung Cho 'Joe' Cheung
Yue Ding
Christopher Doyle	...	English Teacher
Michelle Gabriel
Irene Tsu	...	Aunt Rosie
Kristy Yang	...	XiaoTing Li

Also Known As:

Comrades: Almost a Love Story (Hong Kong: English title) (International: English title)
Tim mat mat (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)

Runtime:

Canada:118 min | Taiwan:116 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese | Mandarin | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Finland:S | Sweden:7

Company:

Golden Harvest Company

Trivia:

"Tian Mimi" is also the name of the song played throughout the film sung by Teresa Teng. The literal translation is "Sweet Honey" but figuratively, it means a good, warm, loving, close relationship.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Li Xiaojun is seen playing the arcade game "Raiden II" in 1986, seven years before it came out.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sepet (2004)

Amicable coincidences

This film is essentially about a guy that falls in love with a girl in a foreign place, somehow marries a former lover and in the end loses it all (well almost all). The first half of the film is mainly about the relationship development between the two "comrades". Since I am not a fan of either actor to me it seems to drag on for quite some time on specific details (one about a very popular singer) which would prove to be significant later on. Chinese in their thirties should relate to some of the historical events. All the sentimental stuff happens in the second half, some perhaps on the least likely of characters. As usual Maggie Cheung is brilliant with her subtle brand of acting. In my point of view, the circumstances where the two surviving characters meet again sporadically after splitting up seem somewhat far-fetched but so sweet you should give them a break. In general it manages to avoid pointless sentiment, innocous humor and yet comes up with a bittersweet ending that is dramatic yet humble. I like "The Umbrella Story" from last year more because it is much gushier and there is more going on (more characters to relate to) but I could understand if an older audience said this movie had better taste.