Intimates (1997)
Reviewed by: grimes on 2000-04-08
The Intimates, to sum it up, is a lesbian melodrama. Of course, a summary like
that really doesn't do the film justice so allow me to elaborate.

The Intimates starts with Wai (Theresa Lee speaking in English, which is like
fingernails on a chalkboard) in modern Hong Kong. She has agreed to escort
her father's nanny to the Mainland, where she is going to meet an old friend.
This is little more than a plot device to start the real story, which happens
entirely in various flashbacks, starting with a scene where Foon has just
become a "combed woman" (some sort of sworn virgin). Her family, however,
has promised her in marriage in exchange for money which they cannot afford
to pay back. When they come to take her back against her wishes, she
threatens to kill herself. She is rescued by Wan, who tosses Foon the money
she needs from a boat and then dissapears.

If you think the beginning sounds melodramatic, you're right. But the rest of
the movie is even more so. We follow Foon and Wan through various trials and
travails while watching them fall in love with each other. There are the
requisite betrayals, separations, forces beyond their control, and so on.
Despite the fact that the protaganists are in a lesbian relationship, there is
little in the movie that will seem terribly new or surprising.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. Most movies that deal with homosexuality
in any way tend to focus on the issue of sexuality. The Intimates completely
glosses over this topic in order to address much more universal concerns. This
is perhaps the most unusual aspect of the movie. It's adherence to a fairly
standard romantic melodrama format, with only one deviation, seems to be
fairly daring. In a more enlightened world, this wouldn't even be notable, but
in ours it certainly is.

The Intimates is both well written and extremely well acted. Carina Lau and
Charlie Yeung are entirely convincing, and their falling in love is completely
natural. Theresa Lee gives an excellent performance, as does Gua Ah-Leh.
Unfortunately, the modern sequences are largely forgettable. The writer
intends to draw parallels between what happens in the flashback in Foon and
Wan's life with events in Wai's life. Unfortunately, we just don't spend enough
time in the present to really develop a strong interest in Wai's life, so these
scenes feel a bit forced. While watching them I was generally thinking of how
much I wanted to get back to the real story.

I have heard that there is a 162 minute director's cut of this film, which I
would very much like to see. The Intimates is a beautiful film to watch, but
there are some moments when it seems like some of the backstory has been
edited out.

One of the film's weakest points is its music. Fortunately, the music is not
abominable and interfering, as in Comrades, Almost a Love Story. However, it
is uninspired. Unfortunately, per standard melodramatic formula, we hear it a
lot. Generally, music in a melodrama is designed to heighten the emotion of a
scene. In The Intimates, the music is often a bit off for the mood of the scene.
It is not bad enough to be entirely distracting, but it adds nothing more than
noise to most scenes.

Despite its flaws, The Intimates is a good film, particularly in the performances
of the two leads. Carina Lau and Charlie Yeung fans will not be dissapointed.
Just don't go expecting a Hong Kong version of The Incredibly True Adventure
of Two Girls in Love