SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

honorhorror This is one of the most beautiful movie shot between Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. I was always looking forward to a "singing in the rain" of China. Now it is there.In my memory, no one is to be compared to Chow yun-fat in Hong Kong movies. But this one really shaken me. Both main characters are to be praise by two thumbs up. The face is Hong Kong movie festival has awarded Zhou Xun with a best actress in a leading role, who acted as Sun Na in the film. Also the plot is fine, ranging between reality and music play. That is something that China has been lack of for years......Passion will pass away instead of people, that is what I think, the saddest thing of this grown-ups' fairy tale.Satisfying.... 8/10

Harry T. Yung Rather than calling "Perhaps love" a musical, it is better to call it a love story with musical elements. As far as that goes, the song and dance sequences are satisfying, although not elating.Like many that came before it (including Truffaut's "Day for night"), "Perhaps Love" is structured as a movie about making a movie. It manipulates the situation to its fullest by having the story in the movie that is being made replicate almost exactly the story of the people making it – the director, male and female leads, in an all-too-familiar perpetual triangle. Crisp cutting traversing the three dimensions – the making of the movie (the present), flashbacks (the past) and the story within the movie being made (the allegory) – creates a fascinating kaleidoscope of lavish beauty from which emotions flare.Kaneshiro Takeshi and Zhou Xun, playing two top stars that shared a past that one tries to forget with icy resolution while the other clings on to with fiery desperation, work together splendidly to bring life to an often-told tale. Jacky Cheung cuts quite a powerful "Phantom" figure playing the director who brought the actress to fame and fortune. Ji Jin-hee is comfortable in a role of the muse in Tales of Hoffman, but appearing in many guises.The use of the trapeze in the grand finale is a clever move, bringing to mind quite a few classic movies with the circus as background. The mellowed ending lifts this movie one notch above conventional romance melodramas, sending the audience away with reflections on the protagonists' as well as their own fleeting passage through life.

helenli71 I like the actors and actress, the set design, the costumes, the songs and dancing. The frames are beautiful. I like the photography, the angles were special. I feel the characters are like communicating with the viewers directly, in a good way - it's the point of view I guess. The dancing segments are wonderful. I particularly like the dancing in the lanes of old Shanghai (the Shanghai Studio Backlots), those street girls, and the wondering Kaneshiro... It's fantastic. A first-class musical scene and performance and design.However, I don't think it's a real musical. Maybe it's not good to judge a film from genres, but it would have felt much better if there were more dancing and singing scenes. The story is perfect for a musical, I mean, simple, melancholy, dramatic. There are simply not enough musical scenes. And it seems to me the girl should dominate the singing, and also Takeshi Kaneshiro. But it seems to me Jacky Cheung is the one who really sings and sings the most - he is a superb singer, but...And the story - I don't think it's organized as a commercial film, but this is obviously a 'commercial-style' of a film. I imagine it would be more enjoyable if the story were told in a clearer way, especially at the beginning, and were told more like a musical with more dancing and singing. So when the viewers walk out of the cinema, their mind still enjoys the visual beauty of the stage and dance, the lingering music and songs, and then feel a bit melancholy of the story - the enjoyment of cinema..Still, I like the film. I've never seen a better Chinese musical.

Jau Zeng Saw the movie last night at the Malaysian premiere with Peter and Takeshi present at the before-buffet and screening.Personally, I did not enjoy the movie. Don't get me wrong, I love musicals, and I thoroughly enjoyed Moulin Rouge. There were a lot of things in Perhaps Love that tried to be like Moulin Rouge but just didn't quite get there. For example, the opening sequence with fast choppy editing and fast-paced choreography. The only problem here is that at least Moulin Rouge gave a clear premise of what the movie was going to be about as oppose to in Perhaps Love, which throws you into a song with no clue at all.The one thing that fell flat was that even though the storyline about the love triangle was simple, the way it was revealed was confusing and there were a lot of scenes that just seemed like a waste of time and wasn't moving the movie along.Perhaps it needs to be explained to me, but generally, movies don't need to be explained and should reveal itself. The formula of a good musical is that it is pretty straightforward and what makes a musical work are strong songs that explain the storyline. The music in Perhaps Love was weak in the sense that it all sounded like Mando-pop ballads and didn't move the story along at all. At some points in the movie, I was thinking whether it can even be justified as a movie musical due to the fact that the only musical numbers were songs from the movie being made within the movie. From memory, there were only about 5 songs through the 2 hours! I usually enjoy choreographed pieces and musical numbers but when it came to the musical scenes in Perhaps Love, I started feeling uncomfortable due to the fact that the extras looked a tad unprofessional and the whole thing was cheesy as oppose to it being a serious, dramatical love story.Visually, though, the shots were well done and sets/costumes and even the acting was strong so I'll give it a few stars there but other than that, it just got tedious and I pretty much was waiting for the ending to arrive.