Rooftop: Where there's heaven above, and a rooftop below

                  

 Disclaimer: I don't encourage fans to watch pirated copy of this movie.  I would like to apologize for downloading it as I cannot contain myself as the torrent is already flashing in front of my screen.  This movie won't be shown in our country so just to be able to keep up with the discussion of the movie, I watched a downloaded unclear copy.  As proof of my unintentional use of piracy, I will not share the downloaded copy and will post my original DVD of this movie when it releases.

The Poster

 Almost six years after "Secret", Jay's second directorial movie came out last July 11, 2013.  I was hoping to catch it in Macau but unfortunately, the movie won't be showing until August 1, 2013.  Instead, I searched every small street just to find a record store to buy the OST. It's hard to find a record store in Macau, all you can see are casino establishments everywhere!  I haven't listened to the OST 'coz Jay wanted us fans to watch the movie first before listening to the OST. So that's what I did. :)  

The movie is obviously marked with the "Jay Chou Style" in it.  The story line is quite simple, your ordinary chick flick movie plus the well-choreographed "concert" style musical which has a real touch of Jay's choreographer and his music.  There are also some out of the blue added scene like the "Swan Lake" song which had me thinking that he wanted to insert that scene just because.  Another trademark of his is that paparazzi scene which rooted from his hate with the reporters.  The dialogue between his back-up buddies (Alan Ke, Huang Jun Lang and Devon) are quite the normal conversational lines Jay uses with his buddies everyday, which has a touch of his own quirkiness and slapstick punchlines.  The leading lady Jay chose is just perfect for the role as she looks like an ordinary girl without any pretenses while getting into the mainstream and acting beside a Heavenly King-- Jay.  If some other well-known artist was paired with Jay,  it might not come out as natural as this one.








                   
                    The rooftop.  This place looks familiar to me. Remember Kungfu Hustle?  It looks so the same yet different.  The difference is that there's no "Grouchy Landlady" who turns off the faucet when rent is not paid.  Instead of fighting and brawling, the rooftop portrays a peaceful ambiance and folks who love music rather than kung-fu.  But I know Jay would've inspired himself with a touch of Stephen Chow movie resemblance.  Just a thought while watching this movie, it's because we were born of the same year and probably watched the same bunch of movies during our teens-- HK Movies. These movies had a great impact on Chinese entertainment industry during the 90s and are already called "classic" nowadays.  With the age group growing up, having their own careers, the influence from it will never be gone.  I believe some bits and pieces of those HK movies are present in this movie as well.  
  

            The car chase was another nail biter. I was almost at the edge of my seat, he was able to shoot something similar with Kato's Black Beauty but with a touch of another HK movie that I've watched before due to the 2nd to the last scene where he asked Xin Ai to get off the car.  It was so much like "War of the Underworld" (洪興仔之江湖大風暴) starring Carman Lee & Tony Leung but with a different ending that got me soooo teary-eyed that I forgot I was watching in our pantry.                     




There was a scene that I felt awkward after watching, I thought Lang Zi Gao (Jay Chou) could've thought of a better line before starting to sing and swing his arms hitting the people inside the bath house.  The punchlines were really crazy 'coz it was blurted out naturally, but there are some scenes I cannot connect with each other and some which lacks character development like the villains.  Maybe because the Director himself said that he cut some of them just to be able to fit and not drag the movie.  

Lastly, as one of my fave musical is Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge, it came into my mind when I saw this poster, minus the violence and the "red light district" feel of the set.

All in all, I commend this movie to those who just want to watch a typical love story which doesn't have much twists in it.  It's not as complicated as Romeo & Juliet, as dark as Moulin Rouge, nor as drastic as Les Miserables.  There's a touch of Jay Chou Style in it, as I've said earlier, and if you're used to watching his MVs, you'll know what I mean.  

I enjoyed the movie but will surely enjoy it when I watch it again in clear copy.  

P.S. The walking in the rain part with the song "You're there everywhere I go" (哪里都是你) is really good ^^