Calmi Cuori Appasionati (Between Calmness and Passion) - R3

[slasher13]

Review Written By Nadeem Rasool
Film Director(s): Isamu Nakae
Actor: Yutaka Takenouchi, Kelly Chen
Released: 2001
Distributor: Universe

Synopsis:
Junsei Agata is studying to be a restoration expert who specializes in fine art, working on historical canvases in Florence, Italy. Through the years Junsei has been unable to forget Aoi, his true love, the one he had to separate from. He remembers a ten-year-old promise they made to meet at a cathedral in Florence on her 30th birthday.

The title says it all in this film. Between Calmness and Passion, the best way to describe this movie is a mature love story. The movie spans from 1990 to 2001, each bit is broken up, to tell a different part of the story. Junsei (Yutaka) and Aoi (Kelly) first meeting in record store, their friendship which evolves into the relationship. The most refreshing part of this movie, is that it does not tell you everything in the beginning, instead when the story progresses, we have flashback of the back-story. So at the start of the movie, we don't know the reason why Junsei is in Italy. Towards the end of the movie, the pieces fall into place and then you end up feeling more for the characters, especially Aoi.

Kelly Chen is very impressive in this movie, she brings so much to the character and like i said before, you care for her character and what she is going through. Yutaka is equally impressive; his character has to speak Italian, English and Japanese. Yutaka pulls this off flawlessly. I was surprised to see Michael Wong in this movie, equally surprised that he is very good in this movie as well. Although his character speaks in English throughout the movie, his scenes with Kelly and Yutaka are very good. Especially the scene with Kelly, when he is asking her about the "Japanese letter". If you have seen the movie, then you know what i am talking about.

Overall i really enjoyed watching this movie, it is a refreshing love story with an engaging storyline.

[DVD REVIEW]

Image:
The picture is very clean but not anamorphic which is a shame. There was no colour bleeding or scratches on the print. Very beautiful to look at.

Sound:
I tested out this film using Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, I have to say, you need to listen to this movie in DD5.1. The whole music surrounds you completely and brings you into their world. Unfortanley i do not have DTS, so i cannot comment on this. There are two audio tracks. One track is International (which has Italian, Japanese and English) and the other is Cantonese. I prefer to listen to the movie in its original track, which is International. The dvd does also include dolby surround as well.

Extra:
As with all Hong Kong releases, there is a star files which gives information about Kelly Chen and Yutaka Takenouchi. It also has a trailer of the movie. I do like the menu for the dvd, it play the haunting music and selected scenes from the movie. It suits the mood of the movie perfectly

Subtitle:
The subtitles are excellent for a hong kong release. My only issue is with the subtitles, it did not match up when the actor and actress, when they were speaking in English. They had changed the words around, although this was annoying, it was infrequent

Summary:
A mature look into relationship, one of the best films with Kelly Chen. Although this movie does not bring you to tears, it is a movie to watch with your loved one.

Equipment:
Toshiba 32" WideScreen Tv,
Dolby Surround 5.1 Speakers
Whalfdale multiregion dvd player