Princess D
There is something very strange about this movie. Everything seems so subtle. But in the end, everything makes sense. Usually, a special effects-virtual reality film does not have much of a story line or substance. But "Princess D" is quite different. It's quite artistic. Good graphics are only a side bar to the true purpose of the movie. The plot focuses on human emotions more than anything else.
Here's a synopsis: Daniel Wu (Ng Yin-Tso) is Joker, a lowly internet executive who accidentally meets Ah Ling (Angelica Lee Sum-Kit), a bartender in a club. Joker gathers up enough courage to talk to this rebellious girl, because in a flash of deja vu, he senses that he has seen her before. But where? he wonders to himself. He eventually falls in love with her, and even bases his virtual reality model on Ah Ling. He calls her "Princess D." In fact, he would wait for her after work at 5am in the morning just to video her. Whether he does this because he misses her, or because he's doing it for his video game, you will never know for sure.
This is the moment where the movie shines in its brilliance. The movie plunges into reality, sliding away from young people singing karaoke and dancing to rave music towards the sadness of a family slowly disintegrating into despair. Joker wants to win Ah Ling over, but as he tries to understand her past, she increasingly becomes more distant to him. She knows that she will only hurt him if they ever become too close. Is it because she thinks she is not good enough for him? Or because they are too different? The movie never reveals the answer. But Joker does not give up. He continues to pursue her even though she does not want him too.
But we also find that Ah Ling is forced to sell ecstacy at her club while bartending because she has no choice but to pay off her younger brother's never-ending debts. Her father, for reasons unexplained, is serving a life-sentence in prison. Her mother is insane, and only talks about emigrating. Joker offers to pay off as much of her debt as possible, but he can only give mostly promises until his video game can be successfully launched. In the end, Ah Ling leaves Joker and takes on an offer for her brother for taking drugs across the Mainland border. She risks being caught and possibly being executed, but she has ran out of options because she has no more money.
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang puts the movie over the top. He plays a loving and understanding father, who teaches ballroom dancing, while his two sons are busily working away at their PC's trying to perfect their image of "Princess D." But from time to time, he would offer his suggestion and understanding for his sons and especially Ah Ling. In one heart-warming scene, he teaches her dancing and how to make his favourite style of coffee. It almost seems like he becomes the father that she never had.
This movie is, as I said before, very subtle. It is not extremely romantic. Nor funny. Nor sad. The storyline is not especially captivating. And the acting is not overly brilliant. But the ending is quite touching. We learn in the end that Joker loses his love, but in return, he uses his memory of Ah Ling in creating his video game, which becomes an instant hit. We also learn that Joker was not mistaken when he said he had met Ah Ling before. They came across each other a long time ago already when Joker saw her handing out flyers in the streets. In the end, Joker leaves Hong Kong and searches for Ah Ling. Or at least so it seems. Because Ah Ling once told him when they were in a bus that she wished she could fly like Princess D, and if she could, she points to a poster, and says she'd like to go that mysteriously distant place where there would be ferris wheels among the grass fields. Joker promised her that he will make her dream into reality even when he knows that is not possible. Joker searches for this place, and even though he knows no ferris wheel exists, he explains that he nonetheless senses Ah Ling's presence.
This is a very worthwhile movie to watch. It took about an hour for everything to sink in. Just like every good movie should do after you finish watching it. It should make you feel sad, but also should leave an "aftertaste" in which you keep thinking about the characters and the story line. I think Joker's sentence about Princess D (but refers to Ah Ling) sums it all up very nicely. He says that his "Cyber Girl doesn't need to be a good girl. No need for an 36-24-36 body. She needs to be more human. She could be cruel enough to make you fear. Yet so tender that you just don't want to leave her."
All in all, I would rate this movie 9/10. Too good to watch only once. Must see it a few more times. At least.
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