LOVE IN A FALLEN CITY is a sweet Hong Kong romantic drama set at the time of the Japanese invasion. The film tells of the developing relationship between two contrasting characters, Cora Miao's self-determined thirtysomething woman, and Chow Yun-Fat's westernised playboy. Their story is depicted against a backdrop of turmoil in which Hong Kong's almost decadent society, heavily indebted to British colonial rule, was about to be torn down by the invasion of the violent Japanese troops. The dialogue is rather obtuse in the subtitled version I watched which makes the characterisation hard to work out, although Yun-Fat displays some of that boyish charm that would see him achieve colossal super-star status in just a few years' time. Interesting, this film was made as a collaboration between the famous Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest studios. It's a pity it wasn't better.
Review of Love in a Fallen City
