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Comrades, Almost a Love Story
甜蜜蜜
1996 118 min Hong Kong 12+
★8.0
Drama, Romance
Director: Peter Ho-Sun Chan
Trailers
Description
Jun arrives in Hong Kong from mainland China, hoping to be able to earn enough money to marry his girlfriend back home. He meets the streetwise Qiao and they become friends. As friendship turns into love, problems develop, and although they seem meant for each other they somehow keep missing out.
US Gross:
$17,676
Starring
Maggie Cheung
Actor
Leon Lai
Actor
Eric Tsang
Actor
Awards
27 wins & 9 nominations total
Key opinion
Comrades: Almost a Love Story is widely celebrated as a tender, deeply moving exploration of migration and romance set against the backdrop of a changing Hong Kong. While the performances and character depth are universally lauded, some viewers find the plot's shift toward melodramatic resolution less satisfying than the film's earlier grounded realism.
| Acting | Maggie Cheung and Leon Lai deliver deeply soulful and natural performances that anchor the emotional core of the film. | |
| Screenplay | The film skillfully balances the central romance with well-developed, independent arcs for secondary characters that enhance the story's realism. | |
| Theme | The narrative successfully captures the poignant, lonely experience of provincial migrants navigating the bustle of Hong Kong. | |
| Screenplay | The screenplay transitions from a compelling, grounded character study in the first half to a more contrived and predictable series of melodramatic obstacles in the second. |