by kijA
Last Song for You, the directorial debut of Jill Leung, opened in Hong Kong cinemas during Christmas 2024 and has just screened in international premiere at the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam, taking place from 30 January – 9 February 2025.
Last Song for You is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam
What if all you need to turn your life around is a little magic, a song and a teenage girl from your past? In his mid-forties, So Sing Wah’s career as singer and music writer hit rock bottom and he, suffering from insomnia and depression, hit a bottle. When he was ready to let go, he met his high school love Ha Man Huen in hospital. Shortly after she dies, a girl in her teens enters Sing Wah’s existence with a stubborn idea to shake him back to life.
“Last Song for You” is a genuine, straightforward, Cantopop-infused melodrama, bridging the elements and sentiments of the 1990s Hong Kong film and music scene with those of now, employing familiar images from romantic films. It takes emotions seriously to the point you might (and should) feel silly falling for it or acknowledging it by attempting to fight it with everyday logic. It opens a peculiar world where time travel, even meeting yourself in a different timeline, is possible thanks to a crystal and a concentrated meditation. Embrace it and you’ll discover a mellow, elegant and formidable film which will sway your mind and hijack your heart.
The casual use of “melodrama” has tainted this fragile and often underestimated genre to the point that films leaning to it or even full-heartedly waving its flag get smirked upon or overlooked. Strange as it might sound, it is the underlying melodrama which makes one of the most beloved action flicks so memorable beyond the fantastic (gun)fights choreography. And let’s face it, both genres ask you to (partially) pass up the logic of laws of nature and physics, to be able to embrace them. When well-choreographed, this temporary abatement pays off, as both offer worlds with own sense and sensibility.
Before taking up directing, Jill Leung has tested the above as the scriptwriter of “SPL 2” or (Wilson Yip‘s) “Ip Man 3” and “Ip Man 4”. Of course, script doesn’t make a film, and a well-measured mis-en-scene is required. And Leung proves to have enough patience for his characters, as well as a sense for the rhythm of storytelling to deliver a delightful, graceful and witty film which can afford to be literal and logic-defying in its core with a zest of sci-fi fantastic. There is a special providence in the length and flow of each take, in the choice of memorable moments, casually building the relationship between Sing Wah and Man Huen in all times.
Leung smoothly leads a cast of actors seamlessly and naturally uttering their lines and with full honesty, letting the younger selves peptalk or casually teach the older selves into not giving up. The on-screen chemistry between Ekin Cheng and Ian Chan mirrors the smooth way their voices complement one another, how they softly resonate in the credit (and titular) song. There is stubborn eagerness and zeal in Chan’s So Sing Wah, while Cheng delivers a tired, disconnected man. Even if not originally written with the two men in mind, the film toys with the idea of Sing Wah being and not being a version of the actual singers/actors, an idea enhanced by the smart inclusion of “Ngo ge go” (我嘅歌), one of Cheng’s hits (while he is the only one who never actually sings it). Even if Cecilia Choi doesn’t get much screening time, she elegantly takes on the energy of the love-full life-lust of Natalie Hsu‘s performance. Hsu demonstrates there is a good reason behind us seeing her quite often in the past two years (eg. Fly Me to the Moon, Bursting Point, Pavane for an Infant, Cesium Fallout) and, I hope, has an open door as a talented actress, sensitive to emotions of various types and genres of films.
Alongside films like “Let it Ghost”, “Lyricist Wannabe”, “Blossoms Under Somewhere or “Possession Street”, “Last Song for You” is a more than worthy addition to the still rare genre films occurrences by “young” or grassroot filmmakers in the cinema for which genre films were a backbone once. Written and directed with masterful precision, it enriches the Hong Kong filmscape by being a subtle high-end gem crafted with a keen mind for details in storytelling, and a just measure for emotion dosing. And if you let it carry you away, you might end up with puffy eyes and a silly smile, and humming “Ngo ge go” (我嘅歌) as the credits roll to a tune of “Last Song for You”.
