Summer Snow (1995)



	Summer Snow		Return to Review Archive - S
	\| review \| awards \| availability \|		Roy Chiao and Josephine Siao
	Year:	1995
	Director:	Ann Hui On-Wah
	Cast:	Josephine Siao Fong-Fong, Roy Chiao (Kiu Wang), Law Kar-Ying, Allen Ting Chi-Chun, Ha Ping, Law Koon-Lan
	The Skinny:	Critically acclaimed drama from Ann Hui that's touching, but not overtly so. The narrative is well-intentioned and interesting, but the distant filmmaking can make the film strangely unsentimental. Daily Variety hated the movie, for some odd reason.
	Review by Kozo:	Much-awarded comedy/drama marks director Ann Hui’s return to filmmaking after a short lay-off. Her subject: Alzheimer’s disease, and its effect on a low income family, in particular the mother May, played with almost regal presence by Josephine Siao. When May’s mother-in-law dies, no one wishes to care for aging war-hero grandpa Roy Chiao. It seems Roy has a penchant for acting childish, wandering off by himself, and thinking he’s still in WWII. Also, May has to contend with the mid-life crisis of her husband (Law Kar-Ying), a son (Allen Ting) despondent over his own relationships, and competition at her job from a much younger female. At first, May tries to find ways to pawn grandpa off, but somewhere along the way she learns to cherish her father-in-law (despite the fact that he acts like a loon). This is a good picture, though uncertain in tone and style. Hui makes no apparent effort to draw us into the lives and emotions of this family; it’s like the material alone is enough to justify awards and hankies. The camera and editing style leaves us slightly distant, and even Siao’s strong performance comes off like attitude. However, the material (though hackneyed) is good and style aside, everything ties up nicely when the summer snow finally arrives. Curiously, Variety wasn’t fond of this picture. In Hong Kong, Summer Snow movie won Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor, Actress, AND Supporting Actor at the HK Film Awards. (Kozo 1996)
	Awards:	15th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards • Best Picture • Best Director (Ann Hui On-Wah) • Best Actor (Roy Chiao) • Best Actress (Josephine Siao Fong-Fong) • Best Supporting Actor (Law Kar-Ying) • Best Screenplay (Chan Man-Keung) 2nd Annual Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards • Best Picture • Best Actress (Josephine Siao Fong-Fong)[tie]
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Chinastar Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin language tracks English and Chinese subtitles
		image courtesy of the Hong Kong Film Critics Society
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