Armand
Poetic, delicate, subtle. European film with Oriental irisations. Story about love and desire, about power of images and the honey of illusions. Cercles of symbols and chimeric gestures. Time like far lake and the past like only form of present. And a feminine Adonis between two different worlds.The character of Li Gong is a magnificent miniature not of a sensitive age or ambiguous feelings but for a way to define the existence. A way to explore each miracle as part of a sacred refuge, a river-trip. The train and the travels to loved friend, the poems and the house like essential sanctuary of a wonderful past, splendid for his ambiguity, the talks with realistic, sarcastic man for who the dreams are only offals of lost age and Zhou Yu- a pretty prey.For this film, the gestures or words are pieces of intense atmosphere. The search of truth is element of personal religion, the love- delicate shard of beautiful pot. The answers- breath of wind in a spring day. And the time- huge shadow of a way.
Claudio Carvalho
I found this movie very beautiful and intriguing, mainly the cinematography, the soundtrack and the wonderful performance of cast with Gong Li, Tony Leung Kafai and Hanglei Sun. Unfortunately, the non-linear screenplay, associated to the difference with the Western cultures and language and the unusual names of the locations, made difficult for me to understand some parts of the story, and I had to rewind the DVD. The mysterious character of Xiu (Gong Li), the narrator, is not well explained and I believe she might have imagined the love story while reading the poem "Zhou Yu's Train" of Chen Qing, with Zhou Yu being her alter-ego. The last scene, disclosing the lake hidden by the fog, is fantastic. I am not sure whether the death of Zhou Yu in the bus accident is another metaphor. I intend to see this movie again in a near future, trying to understand it deeper and reevaluate my vote, which is presently six.Title (Brazil): "O Trem de Zhou Yu"("Zhou Yu's Train")
moviemaniac-9
"The way to a woman's heart is through a poem".....so it seemed in this visually stunning cinematic experience. One eventful day, Zhou Yu a pretty painter from Sanming embarked on a train for trip. She chanced upon a handsome but shy aspiring poet, Chen Ching. He captivated her and soon captured her heart with his poem personifying her natural beauty and comparing it to that a celestial lake.Soon they fell in love and began their twice weekly passionate affair while commuting to the city of Chongyang. But a fellow commuter named simply as Zhang Qiang, a veterinarian came in between the two lovebirds, with a secret amorous agenda of his own for Zhou Yu. But this is more than just a love triangle!A new woman named Xiu came into the scene. She looked exactly like Zhou Yu. But the scene took on a different era; a different time period. She was reading the book, "Zhou Yu's Train". Is Zhou Yu a real person? Is Zhou Yu really was Xiu? Or is Zhou Yu a figment of Xiu's romantic imagination?Be prepared for this surreal, non-linear movie experience.
zzmale
In comparison to most other Chinese movies, the title of this movie has very significant symbolic meaning, symbolizing the point of no return. It also has an poetic meaning, which neatly related to the plot of the movie which include a poet. This is one of most obvious achievement of this movie, which also makes it a little different from the rest of Chinese movies.The social critic aspect of the movie is rather something ordinary, a theme that is common in most social critic films in contemporary China, and it is none other than the criticism of hedonism, materialism, and other common stuff you would find in Chinese movies about modern China.
AD
