July Rhapsody

July Rhapsody is a heart-warming tale about Yiu-Kwok Lam's (Jacky Cheung) tangled relationships. As the film begins, Lam's life is pretty repetitive. He is a teacher at the local school, struggling to support his family on a small salary. Slowly things change when he discovers that one of his students, Choy-Lam (Karena Lam), has a crush on him.

The life of Lam gets increasingly complicated, as his wife begins to look after her terminally ill ex-lover and his old school teacher. While she is away from home, he finds himself spending more and more time in the company of Choy-Lam.

The supporting cast are on hand to provide humour in an otherwise serious movie, from Lam's old friend Yue to his youngest son who insists that Ricky Martin is only worth listening to if you're a Philipino maid!

Ann Hui's quaint little film is enjoyable, despite being too static. She seems big on words, rather than action, which sometimes can be beneficial, although the characters recite and discuss poetry quite a lot. This might be relevant to the plot, but it becomes boring.

Despite minor annoyances, July Rhapsody has a nice ending. Fans of Cantonese cinema are sure to enjoy the scenery and the little English words that slip into their normal conversations.

Definitely something for a quiet afternoon.