Erica Li is an eclectic screenwriter who has collaborated with directors of the like of Herman Yau and Stephen Chow, on scripts ranging from comedy to action. Her directorial debut “Just 1 Day” is a very personal project as the script is adapted from her own novel.
“Just 1 Day” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival
The film immediately introduces one of the two protagonists, Angelfish (Charlene Choi), a banker in her thirties and in a pretty typical relationship with a married man who eternally swears he will leave his wife but never keeps the promise. Angelfish is an incurable romantic and deeply misses little sweet gestures like watching the sun rising on Hong Kong with her lover, but unfortunately this doesn't seem to be a possibility with him. Her old school girlfriends have opposite situations, one being a free and easy air hostess, the other a perfect-marriage paradigm. Their school days are a fond memory for Angelfish and she happily participates to a big school reunion organised for the occasion of the school relocation. There she bumps into her former classmate Mosaic (Wong Cho Lam), now a cool urban sketcher, who always had a crush on her but never felt confident enough to make his move.
In fact, as the numerous sepia-tinted flashback reveals, they were very small when they were in class together and Mosaic, a bespectacled short boy, had been troubled by his height and he still is now confronting his former (and never estinguished) crush. However, he is a charming and interesting person and the two start to connect again, as if time had never passed and Mosaic summons his courage to reveal to Angelfish that he has been diagnosed with SLA and has'nt got long to leave. Consequentely, he asks her out on a 1-day date, like being a couple but just for 24 hours, but instead of playing the pity card he wants to offer her a happy and romantic day. Under certain strict conditions, like no kisses and no photos on social media, Angelfish agrees to the date and discovers that Mosaic has planned a really thoughtful, pleasant, romantic series of small things, from breakfast with a former teacher turned miniaturist, watching an old Hong Kong weepy movie at the cinema, stealing a guitar to a street basker and serenading her, lovely homecooked dinner, watching the sun rising over Hong Kong harbour. All carefully planned. Predictably, this will not last only one day as all these attentions have deeply touched Angelfish.
Erica Li's step on the director chair “Just 1 Day” cannot get away from corny terrirtory. A true romantic tearjerker, the film follows the idea that love brings love, using the ultimate trope of the terminal hillness. Despite her confident direction and good, charming acting, the storytelling is a bit disappointing, coming from a seasoned scriptwriter like her. All the charm of this world cannot disguise the triviality of the characters, especially the female ones. Angelfish, who waits for a man to take her to see the sunrise while staying with an opposite type, is not only a bit old fashioned but also a truly embarrasing female representation. Her girlfriends too are modelled on tired stereotypes like the family-breaker air hostess (!!) and the sweet / married / mum / pregnant / white-dressed angel. They make you wonder if women like that really exist. But the ultimate all too easy tearjerker trope is the bomb of the terminal illness which underlines and pushes forward the narration. Although Li doesn't indulge much over the final days of Mosaic, the illness is the big elephant in the room since the very beginning and it seems to be there only as a mere plot device.
What saves the day here is the unrestrained and deeply honest love for the city of Hong Kong, which permeates the whole film. There is a sub-plot of a former teacher who creates beautiful miniatures of old houses and shops of the bygone Honk Kong era, that feels like it was inserted in the film forcefully (maybe the artist is a friend of Li?) however, it is one of the best things in the movie, together with Mosaic's urban sketches and the frequent memories of old Hong Kong and disappeared urban landmarks. The film ends with an exhibition of the miniatures, paired to Mosaic's hand-drawn pictures, after his death (well, no spoiler here) with all the characters of the movie visiting and lingering. It is a very sweet moment and it made me think that all those side plots and elements – the miniatures, the sketches, the school reunion, the memories of Hong Kong, the sunrise over the harbor, even a terminally ill protagonist! – would have been enough to make a delightful little film, without any need for a romantic plot.
Charlene Choi and Wong Cho Lam have a good chemistry, although not a romantic one, they are very believable as old mates. Christopher Doyle is Director of Photography but don't expect the wild style that made him famous as he is quite tame here. Nevertheless, he truly delivers the aforementioned love for the location. “Just 1 Day” will probably encounter the favours of local audiences with its Hong Kong flavoured romance and beloved protagonists, but as per se, it is still hard to digest without being in love with Hong Kong.
