Panorama - BERLINALE

Lost in time - by Wolfgang Kick

Hongkong, China, 2003, 109 min
Director: Derek Yee
with Cecilia Cheung, Lau Ching Wan, Louis Koo, Harashima Daichi

Action centres on Holly Lam (Cecilia Cheung), whose minibus driver fiance Man Liang dies in a crash on the job. Compelled to support Man's orphaned son Laurie (Harashima Daichi) and carry on the trade her man had invested so much in, Holly repairs the crashed bus and starts working the Hong Kong Island east-west route, much to the disapproval of her family. Breaking into the minibus driver routine is not without other hardship, and it takes the support of good Samaritan colleague Hale (Lau Ching-wan) for Holly to learn the ropes, to deal with triad interference and, eventually, to pay the bills at home.

Holly is fighting for taking the responsibility for Laurie against the family who doesn’t trust her, and that nearly breaks down her psyche. It takes some time for her to accept Hale’s help, whom Laurie accepts as his new dad from the first moment. Cecilia Cheung finds it hard to reach the viewer’s sympathy, fighting for her own independence but at the same time demanding the help of others for even paying Laurie’s tuition and the rent for her apartment. It is the role of an emancipated woman who wants to live her own life but doesn’t realize that she needs a man to live it. Hale, on the other side, gives everything for her and loses part of his personality to her.