%attr> film_title => 'Lost and Found' year => 1996 director => 'Lee Chi-Ngai' cast => [ 'Kelly Chan Wai-Lan', 'Takeshi Kaneshiro', 'Michael Wong Man-Tak', 'Cheung Tat-Ming', 'Josie Ho Chiu-Yee', 'Hilary Tsui Ho-Ying', 'Cheung Ying-Choi', 'Tang Lai-Ming', 'Tsang Hoi-Ying', 'Lee Hiu-Tung', 'Lee Hiu-Ying', 'Mak Siu-Fai', 'Jordan Chan Siu-Chun', 'Moses Chan Ho' ] %attr>
Takeshi Kaneshiro plays a man who runs a business called Lost and Found, which specializes in searching for lost things and people. In the subtitles, his name is shown as That Worm, though that seems like a fairly odd name, cultural barriers notwithstanding. Near the beginning of the film, he runs into Kelly Chan. During their first conversation, she says that she has lost something. What she says she has lost is hope. We soon find out that she has leukemia and that the hope she seeks seems to be Michael Wong, a sailor who works for her father's shipping company.
Although this opening is clever, it could also be the setup for a grotesquely sappy melodrama and I was happily surprised that this was not the case. This film deals very seriously with a number of weighty issues, including love, parent-child relationships, death, and of course, hope. While this is territory that has been mined in countless Hollywood tear-jerkers, Lost and Found manages to skirt the pitfalls awaiting it, thanks to an excellently written script and the fabulous performances of Takeshi Kaneshiro and Kelly Chan. While there are certainly plenty of emotional moments (happy and sad), none of them feel manipulative or forced, as is so often the case when watching other movies that deal with these sorts of issues.
This was the first film in which I have seen Kelly Chan. One review of this film I read called her a flower vase, which couldn't be farther from the truth. It is true that she does not show a lot of emotion and seems to maintain somewhat of a stone face throughout the film. This is not a fault. Her character is always striving to remain in control of herself, believing that she has only herself to rely upon. Kelly Chan does a great job of portraying this while letting the audience in onto what is going on in her head through both subtle visual clues and an overt monologue.
Takeshi was, as usual, excellent. This is one of his best roles outside of Chungking Express and Fallen Angels. The supporting cast was excellent as well, though none of them had major roles. The only problems in the film came from Michael Wong. Simply put, he is not a good actor and he has about two different facial expressions. Fortunately, his role was simple enough that these two expressions carried him through most of his scenes. I simply can't understand how he gets movie roles, and I particularly don't understand how he got a role in a film as good as this one. There have got to be other half-Chinese actors available somewhere who Hong Kong film studios could recruit.
Also notable was the fact that this film had what I consider the bane of many movies (Hong Kong films in particular), the "music video" within a film. However, for once, it worked. This scene, instead of being excrutiating and embarassing as these scenes usually are, illustrates a key plot point in a funny and touching manner. It did leave me wondering why two pop stars (Kelly & Takeshi) couldn't do a better job of lip synching though. Probably this can be at least partially blamed on the Hong Kong film industry's inability to accurately sync soundtracks in general.
Directorially, Lost and Found is not flashy. This is not a bad thing. Rather, it is just the case that this film is about the art of narrative and story-telling, rather than purely visual art.
Lost and Found has a fantastic ending. A good ending for a film is very important to me crucial as the ending is the final impression that the film gives you. If the ending fails, then it could be said that the time and emotional energy that the viewer invests in the film is squandered. This film had one of the best endings I've seen, wrapping up an already beautiful story perfectly.
Lost and Found ranks very high in my list of favorite Hong Kong films, and high on my list of films in general. It is a beautiful story.