A Simple Life is a beautiful film that tugs at your heart strings not because of the story but because of the unveiling of the relationship between a family servant and her 'young master' that she has treated as her own son.
It is a difficult subject to cover but the gist of the plot is that the servant, ah Tao, suffers from a stroke and goes through a massive lifestyle change from looking after others to become the one being looked after. Deanie Ip's acting is absolutely incredible in that you are not watching her go through the motions, you are actually with her throughout her journey and feel her pain and joy as the film goes on. You can sense the unrewarded joy she gets from looking after Roger to the worries that she goes through to being a burden to him and moving herself to an old people's home and giving up a life of being the carer to being cared for.
Andy Lau's portrayal as Roger is very different from the other roles I have seen him in. It is played subtly and allows the character of ah Tao to really shine through and there is evidently brilliant chemistry between the two and in the film, Roger grows from being a pampered boy used to having ah Tao revolve around his life to a mature man that realises all that she has done for him.
What makes this film so great is the realism in all the scenes and it was not a typical film where you think 'this does not happen in real life'. Also, the focus is not on her medical conditions and subsequent pain from her health but her story and how her life changes and the way she copes and adapts.
Ann Hui captured ah Tao's story beautifully and I came out of the film feeling like I knew her and had shared her life with her from the day she had her stroke to the day that she passed.
Many cameos from many HK stars but liked the way they were written into the film and that they had a part to play and not in the story for the sake of being famous.
An absolute must-see.
It is a difficult subject to cover but the gist of the plot is that the servant, ah Tao, suffers from a stroke and goes through a massive lifestyle change from looking after others to become the one being looked after. Deanie Ip's acting is absolutely incredible in that you are not watching her go through the motions, you are actually with her throughout her journey and feel her pain and joy as the film goes on. You can sense the unrewarded joy she gets from looking after Roger to the worries that she goes through to being a burden to him and moving herself to an old people's home and giving up a life of being the carer to being cared for.
Andy Lau's portrayal as Roger is very different from the other roles I have seen him in. It is played subtly and allows the character of ah Tao to really shine through and there is evidently brilliant chemistry between the two and in the film, Roger grows from being a pampered boy used to having ah Tao revolve around his life to a mature man that realises all that she has done for him.
What makes this film so great is the realism in all the scenes and it was not a typical film where you think 'this does not happen in real life'. Also, the focus is not on her medical conditions and subsequent pain from her health but her story and how her life changes and the way she copes and adapts.
Ann Hui captured ah Tao's story beautifully and I came out of the film feeling like I knew her and had shared her life with her from the day she had her stroke to the day that she passed.
Many cameos from many HK stars but liked the way they were written into the film and that they had a part to play and not in the story for the sake of being famous.
An absolute must-see.