July Rhapsody (2002)
6/10
Surviving the Hong Kong Lolita
19 May 2002
Jacky Cheung plays Lam Yiu Kwok who is a Hong Kong high school teacher who is facing a mid-life crisis. While he has only is pride and Chinese poetry to fall back on, his peers are successful businessmen and professionals who flaunt their extravagant lifestyles at reunion dinners. After all these years, Lam is still living in a cramped apartment with his wife, Man Ching (Anita Mui) and two teenage sons.

However financial stagnancy is not his only problem. An old flame and ex-teacher of both Man Ching returns to Hong Kong and uncovers old wounds. Man Ching feels obliged to help her ex-lover...

Meanwhile Yiu Kwok faces another dilemma; Choy Lam (Lam Ka Yan) a precocious student, has a crush on him and the 'forbidden fruit' looks more and more tempting in the light of his wife's 'infidelity'. Will he succumb to young charms and let history repeat itself?

July Rhapsody is a touching story about a man for whom honour, truth and fidelity mean a lot. Personally I have only known highly of Jacky Cheung's singing ability and have not thought much of his acting moreover in serious roles as in this movie but after watching him grapple with Lam's problems, I hold him in high regard. Anita Mui is also convincing as a wife caught between the past and present but her role is definitely being over-whelm by Lam Ka Yan who is indeed the show stealer and is so delectable in her Lolita role that she heats up every scene she appears in.

Drama about mid-life crisis often need comedy to spice them up and here in this movie you can find the mixture blend of poetry, passion and pain...
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