Beijing Love Story (2014) (DVD) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region 3

Actor Chen Sicheng has already covered several of those stories as the star, co-writer and director of the 2012 television drama Beijing Love Story about three college friends' pursuit of love, dreams and careers in the big city. Working with a bigger budget and a starry cast (though without most of his drama's co-stars, including the popular Mini Yang), Chen brings five new Beijing stories to the silver screen with his feature film directorial debut.

Only a thematic continuation of the television show, the film version of Beijing Love Story is about falling in and out of love as seen through the eyes of four generations of characters. Chen and his drama co-star (and now wife) Tong Liya start the relay with the first story about a romance between graphic designer Chen Feng (Chen) and white-collar office worker Shen Yan (Tong) that is derailed by financial difficulties. The most typical out of the five stories, Chen and Tong's installment gets the film off to a likeable start, though it doesn't offer anything new to the genre.

Wang Xuebing takes over the second story as Chen Feng's best friend Wu Zheng, a serial philanderer who proudly claims that his extramarital affairs make him treat his long-suffering wife Zhang Lei (Yu Nan) better. When Zhang Lei discovers her husband's affairs, she tries to give him a taste of his own medicine over a wild night out. An antithesis to the first story's fairy tale approach to love, this section is completely carried by Yu Nan, who effectively conveys the emotional suffering of the jilted wife without resorting to over-the-top hysterics.

Playing Zhang Lei's boss, Tony Leung Ka Fai co-stars with fellow Hong Kong star Carina Lau in the third segment about another couple in an extramarital affair. Shot in a picturesque Greek seaside village and set entirely in a hotel room (and its extravagant pool balcony), the segment features a surprise twist that can be detected from miles away. Nevertheless, it's one of the more charming sections of the film, thanks to the chemistry between Leung and Lau.

Chen returns to more conventional ground in the fourth segment with a schoolyard love story between a young boy and a talented cellist classmate that he has a crush on. Coming near the 90-minute point, this traditional story of young love slightly drags as the film begins to wear out its welcome, but it's nevertheless a pleasant detour that features a beautiful scene set on the peak of Jingshan Park, behind the Forbidden Palace.

Beijing Love Story comes full circle with an excellent finale. Veteran actor Wang Qinxiang stars as Old Wang, a retired man who is tired of the efforts of Mrs. Gao (Siqin Gaowa) to find him a new wife. Finally, he meets a real contender in Xue Aijia (Elaine Jin), a divorcee who has just returned from living overseas. Like the third segment, this final story has a twist that isn't hard to guess from the beginning, but it's carried by the performances and a lighthearted comedic tone that is only hurt by its melodramatic final scene.

None of the five stories in the film will ever be lauded for originality, but the flaws in Chen's script are well compensated by his skill as a director. Essentially directing five different films, Chen is a surprisingly confident director who moves through a wide range of styles in a very short time. Rather than presenting five different stories, Chen inserts little touches that connect the characters together, emphasizing that even people in a huge city like Beijing can share a connection. Like many great urban films, Beijing Love Story depicts the city as a place where people of different social classes, family backgrounds and even moral values can share the same space in pursuit of better lives for themselves (politics intentionally left out here). As my friend told me, Beijing may not be a great city, but it has a very unique and even mysterious type of charm. Perhaps the same can be said about this film as well.