Reviewed by: Chungking_Cash Date: 11/03/2008 Yim Ho's second Mandarin language film is a text book example of an ethical dilemma. Eaten alive by inner turmoil a mill worker walks into a police station to turn the mother who coddled him during his formative years in for murdering his domineering father whose death was previously ruled to illness. Though it hardly ignited a resurgence of Mandarin language cinema in Hong Kong, "The Day the Sun Turned Cold" runs a gauntlet of bittersweet emotions and belongs in the former colony's cinematic pantheon. Reviewer Score: 10

Reviewed by: Inner Strength Date: 04/15/2002 Summary: Excellent Very good drama, excellent performances by all the cast. Well worth seeing. Rating: [4/5]

Reviewed by: pjshimmer Date: 02/26/2002 This is a thought-provoking ART movie that tells a simple story. It is very well made, but it's really, really, really difficult to like. There's too much controversy, the most heartbreaking being the last minute when the boy threw away her mother's sweater. My heart just stopped beating. Also, there really isn't much realism in the story--especially in the dialogues. Don't think for a minute THIS is how Chinese families treat eachother. We do not talk the way they talk in this movie, and we aren't nearly as hyperdramatic. Most movies make the Chinese people look so senseless and like we can't have private, intimate conversations, and it really gets me. The film Puts you in an extremely bad mood. DON'T WATCH THIS WITH YOUR PARENTS (like I did)! [7/10]

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy Date: 09/03/2000 Summary: Excellent movie!! When i watched this, i thought not ANOTHER depressing movie from China. For some reason, when i started watching, i couldn't turn away. This is a slow paced (which is actually a good thing for once)but EXTREMELY powerful drama. I really liked it especially with all the twists in it. All the acting in this is BRILLIANT. Very realistic and the emotions the characters display are all Academy Award winning. Give this movie a chance. You will not regret watching it. Prepare to be moved!! 9/10 Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: hkcinema Date: 12/08/1999 Ten years after his father's death, Guan Jian is brought face toface with an ugly possibility. He brings the police evidence of his father's murder-and implicates the suspect: his mother. The police captain is at first skeptical: no one had previously doubted that the man had died a natural death. But, swayed by Guan's evident integrity and his stories of childhood conflicts between his parents, the captain resolves to investigate. As director Yim Ho (Red Dust, SFIFF 1991) slowly unravels the mystery, the relationships among the characters and Guan's internal struggles grow increasingly complex. The 24-year-old is tormented by his Hamlet-like ambivalence toward both his mother (who has since remarried) and his own actions ten years before, when his betrayal of her love affair may have forced her hand. The Day the Sun Turned Cold is based on a true story, but its emotional charge carries it beyond the surprising twists of its plot. Although this film comes from Hong Kong, it is set in the same bleak (and sumptuously photographed) northern China as The Story of Qiu Ju (SFIFF 1993), and it possesses the personal, serious and moving tone of the best films emerging from the Mainland. Best Film and Best Director, Tokyo International Film Festival, 1994. [Reviewed by Anonymous]

Reviewed by: spinali Date: 12/08/1999 Summary: NULL Ten years after his father's death, a mill worker goes to the authorities -- to accuse his mother of the murder. From here, it's a series of bittersweet childhood flashbacks (photographed beautifully) as his family takes in a courageous logger -- followed by a twist-filled inquiry and trial. A Dostoevskian thriller, loosely plotted, and soaked in a morality that's part character study and part PRC morality parable. Seems much longer than its mere 99 minutes. (3/4) [Reviewed by Steve Spinali] Reviewer Score: 7