Much like the opening sequence, I found myself drifting through the film as if i was a passenger on the boat. Enveloped by a myriad of emotions and in a constant state of observation at all the transient and ephemeral moments of love, loneliness and tragedy unfolding in front of me, all amidst the backdrop of a far slower societal change. There's hue's of Kar-Wai here, the dream-like quality, except it's a portrait of the grittier side of Shanghai at the dawn of the millennia that's on display. Not just a sombre and atmospheric melodrama, there's a unique sense of intricacy that's gone into making this. I'm surprised this film isn't more popular, it's genuinely a masterful piece of work. Lou Ye is criminally under-appreciated.
