Hold You Tight (1998) Poster

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7/10
Good story within a maze of flashbacks
vonboise28 October 2001
Not an easy story to follow, as it unfolds with a current/flashback story line throughout, and you aren't always aware of which medium you're in. Watching this film with someone was helpful(for me) in trying to piece together the story. Yet our combined version differs with the synopsis on the video box.

A movie different from any HK movies I've viewed before. Action begins in a gay sauna.....and I mean action. From there it mellows out, but the movie has a gay theme, so you're forewarned. The movie weaves between (1) pursuit of a widower(?) by a real estate salesman; (2) the husbands recollections of his wife; (3) the swimming trainers affair with the wife; and (4-5) which would give too much away.

Thought the acting and story line were quite good. The movie certainly keeps you attempting to put the puzzling pieces together. Mentioned my interpretation differed from the box synopsis...probably just put more intrigue into the movie, but if you see this movie, remember where the swimming trainer was from and the lack of clarification as to how or when an affair started.
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4/10
I Like The Actors, Did Not Like The Film
crossbow010627 October 2008
This story is Ah Moon (Chingmy Yau) and Wai, a young couple who move into an apartment in Hong Kong. The movie gets a little convoluted from there, as it seems Moon is having an affair with a guy who is maintaining the pool at their apartment building. I say seems because they are all of a sudden spending time together. I missed the connection, where it came from. Ah Moon dies in a plane crash and the pool guy spots Rosa (also played by Ms. Yau), who looks just like her. You wonder if they will have a relationship. There is a side story involving Tong (the always good Eric Tsang), who is a gay real estate agent. The also always good Sandra Ng plays a laser disc store manager. The problem is, Eric and Sandra's characters are kind of meaningless. Somewhere, there is an excellent film about tragically losing your love and encountering someone who looks just like her, to see if you can fall in love again. The film spends too much time on the relationship of Moon and Wai. I was waiting for Rosa to meet with Wai and see his reaction. Sadly, this film falls short, even though every actor I've seen before (especially Ms. Ng, Ms. Yau and Mr. Tsang) has impressed me with their acting ability. I'm sorry to say I cannot recommend this.
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9/10
Clarification (spoiler?)
BrainChamber15 February 2005
Warning: Spoilers
The previous comment seems to allude to the dual role played by Chingmy Yao, who plays Moon and Rosa. Kwan does little to help us through this film, and it easy to mistake Rosa for Moon (after all, they look identical!) However, make no mistake, Rosa, whom Jie meets in Taipei is *not* Moon. Several people I know who have seen this film are convinced that Moon faked her death and snuck away to Taipei to live with Jie. But astute viewers will note that in the airport scene that opens the film and replays later we see both Moon and Rosa about to board the same flight. Rosa misses it, and therefor lives. Interviews with Kwan confirm that Chingmy Yau is playing a dual role, not just changing her name halfway through the movie. This is consistent with Kwan's favorite theme of split identities (see Red Rose, White Rose).

Having said that, this film is ambiguous enough to allow for multiple interpretations, without having to compound the confusion by mixing up the characters.
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Another Hong Kong Noir
chuholam17 March 1999
Although I've only seen this film once and I almost fell asleep in the opening of this film, my interest to this film increased as it moved on because of how stylish it is, which I can say this is another Film Noir from Hong Kong since Wong Kar Wai's Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express and Fallen Angels.
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A poor imitation of Wong Kar Wai movies- A Fallen Effort
moviesbest8 August 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I prefer Stanley Kwan's films in his "old-fashioned" way like his earlier films, Rogue, Centerstage, Love Unto Waste, Full Moon in New York etc. This film saw a major change in style. Very obviously, we can see that he was very much influenced by WKW's 2 recent hits, Chungking Express and Fallen Angels. The story-telling, screenplay and cinematography styles are very similar, even the Chinese title has the 2 words "dor lok"(fallen), a very unusual 2 words ever used in a film title, in fact none before WKW used it.

************SPOILER*********begins The big publicity hype created during its time of release, a full frontal for the first time by a actor(Chen Kam Hung in a Chinese movie is really unnecessary, so is the scene, which is actually "far" and "blur" and nothing to do with the script. ************SPOILER********ends
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