User:Nicholas0/sandbox/Love in the Time of Twilight

Love in the Time of Twilight is a 1995 Hong Kong romantic comedy film directed by Tsui Hark. The film reunites lead actors Nicky Wu and Charlie Yeung, who had previously starred in Tsui Hark's 1994 film The Lovers.

Plot
In the time leading up to the matchmaking day Affinity Day, struggling single stage actress Yan Yan is annoyed and bothered multiple times by the single Kong Gai Wai, who is attracted to Cheung Siu Ying. Siu Ying entrusts Gai Wai with a box of expensive jewellery from her father's collection and he is killed by gangsters for it. He returns as a ghost to ask Yan Yan to travel back in time to attempt to bring the two enemies together and change their fates.

Cast

 * Samuel Hui as Yam
 * Teddy Robin as Hing
 * Hark Tsui as Sunny
 * Joey Wang as May
 * Ng Man-tat as Foreman Yue
 * Shum Wai as Manager Wu
 * Li Yen Ping as Diva Ping
 * Ken Lo as Kickboxer
 * Hui Shiu-hung as Kickboxer's Trainer
 * Kwan Hoi-san as Uncle Ha
 * Anglie Leung as Jane
 * O Sing-pui as Hing and Sunny's Buddy
 * Wong Kam-bo as Yam's Boss
 * Yat Boon-chai as May's Chauffeur
 * Yeung Yau Cheung as Head of Interpol Unit
 * Ken Boyle as Snr Police Officer
 * Paul Lai as Health Inspector Lai
 * Luk Ying-Hong as Motorcycle Policeman
 * Nan Hong as Maria
 * Pau Hon-Lam as May's Father
 * David Wu as Supervisor
 * Bolo Yeung as Giant Kickboxer
 * Yiu Yau Hung as Boney M

Production
The martial arts director was Yuen Bun.

Release
The film had a theatrical run in Hong Kong from 13 to 26 April 1995, earning HK$5,126,023.

Reception
Reviewer Joey O'Bryan of the Austin Chronicle gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, writing, "Needless to say, despite Hark's colorful direction, some nifty effects work, and the enthusiastic performances given by the two leads, Love in the Time of Twilight won't please everyone; it's simply too oddball and silly a mixture, but it is packed with lots of unpredictability and charm, and should serve as a nice diversion for Hong Kong film buffs."

In his book Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment, author David Bordwell wrote, "Love in the Time of Twilight showcased Nicky Wu and Charlie Young, two pop singers who had been successful in Tsui's costume romance The Lovers (1994). Instead of making a carbon copy, he set himself new problems in storytelling and special effects. [...] The special effects are handled adroitly, but Tsui is chiefly interested in piling up misunderstandings to a height unattempted in Hollywood movies. His lovers from the future quarrel with their earlier selves and adopt disguises that confuse each other. In a fit of anger the gangster, heedless of the consequences, tries to kill his past self. The confusion culminates in a hide-andseek chase in the theater involving all three pairs of doubles, each one ignorant of the whole situation. Folding in upon itself again and again, Love in the Time of Twilight is Tsui's effort to beat Hollywood time-travel comedy at its own game."

Reviewer Andrew Saroch of fareastfilms.com gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, writing, "Thankfully Charlie Yeung is wonderful as Yan – charming and totally engrossing – while Nicky Wu is a perfect foil as the more serious Kong; these two superb performers help the viewer to forgive the early problems. ‘Love In The Time Of Twilight’ is still a good film that nearly rises to be a fine one – it’s recommended despite this fact."

Reviwer Kozo of lovehkfilm.com called the film a "Dizzyingly paced romantic fantasy from Tsui Hark that features a truly bizarre series of plot devices and a sometimes confusing narrative. It's also an engaging, creative motion picture that can be exhilarating and quite enjoyable."

Reviewer Stephen Teo of filmcritics.org.hk called it a "Typically lush, over-produced piece of flummery from Tsui Hark", concluding that it is "Compulsively idiosyncratic and eclectic (the film crosses Hong Kong ghost movies with Hollywood's digitally-animated special effects productions) but put together with the usual Tsui Hark panache."

The review of the film on sogoodreviews.com reads, "Tsui throws buckets of weirdness at us including fairly extensive but rough use of CG (and this is set in 1920s Shanghai just so you know), situation comedy, situation comedy involving lots of projectile vomit, Eric Kot being annoying like only Eric Kot can, frankly creepy after life-esque imagery, time travel and an insanely funny or maybe serious comment on the development of technology during this era. It all adds up to a wild time and only a movie that can come from the imaginative mind of Tsui Hark."

A review by Sean Gilman on The Chinese Cinema reads, "Love in the Time of Twilight should be seen more. At the time of this writing, it doesn't even have a wikipedia page". The review continues, "It might be the best of Tsui Hark's three films from 1995. Has any director had a year with so many films that were so different from each other?" Remarking on the unusual plot, Gilman wrote, "no matter how crazy Tsui's narratives become, they are always grounded in clear (even basic) emotional drives. His people make sense even if their worlds do not." On the website seattlescreentime.com, Gilman called the film a "mid-90s classic".

Variety called the film one of Tsui Hark's "flops".

Despite its lack of success at the box office, the film holds a 73% audience score from over 250 ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.