First Love and Other Pains

Rating:
Summary: The quiet clash of two worlds
Review: You don't need flashy direction and big budgets when you have interesting characters, tangible dilemmas, and troubled human relationships. Here is a good example. A quiet love story taking place in Hong Kong between Hugh, a 49 year old professor of English literature and his Chinese student, 19 year old Mark.

The two men are from very different worlds. Hugh is a neurotic character, sensing that his life is slipping away from him. He is writing a play about a long-lost love-affair, but can't get it published. This frustrates him no end, and he has problems concentrating on his job at the University.

Into his life enters Mark, a polite, intelligent Chinese boy, very Confucian, but he seems more sure of himself. He wants Hugh badly, but Hugh is keeping a distance. The key scene happens near the end, when a failed phone-call proves critical.

This film benefits from several viewings. The people grow on you, and what seems like stiff acting is actually restraint, modesty, a reluctance to let themselves go. The good manners of Chinese culture is very much in evidence in Mark and Hugh. Yet, this doesn't retract from the movie, it merely allows you to project you own emotions into the characters. Very Checkovian, you might say.
As for the gay content, expect nothing explicit. But other than that, this is very good indeed.

Note: The film lasts 50 minutes.