Our Last Day (1999)

It was a surprise to walk into the New Imperial Cinema and see a screen with the 4:3 aspect ratio of a TV. And sure enough, when the small projector hanging from the ceiling fired up, Our Last Day turned out to be entirely shot and screened on video. The novelty wears off quickly as the two leads are introduced - there's a girl lying on top of a bed and a boy hiding on the floor underneath. They're both recounting why it is that they've come to be either side of that bed...

Credits roll, and it cuts to the recent past. A schoolboy spots a schoolgirl, Mandy, on the train. He decides that within 100 days, he'll know her. And sure enough he does. Neither of them are particularly joyous characters, and it's not long before he saves her from suicide twice. From that builds an uneasy relationship bringing out the sources of Mandy's sadness. It's a simple plot, and it's pieced into a fragmented non-linear script which actually works nicely to reveal the sorry state of Mandy's family life and her background.

I'm surprised that I like this film - Our Last Day seems as if it's aimed at the troubled teens among the Hong Kong arthouse set. And I'm way, way outside that particular demographic. Our Last Day has plenty to potentially make it a bad film - irksome edits, a confusing intro, lots of slow moping around and a particularly inappropriate soundtrack spring to mind. Yet despite this, the use of video frames its subjects well, keeps the film looking edgy and often brings Hong Kong's ambient noise to the fore. Grace Lam is the right choice for the role of Mandy - she not only looks like a schoolgirl, but pulls off acting barely hinted at in her previous films. I'm impressed. Mandy's stepdad also benefits from astute casting. Our Last Day is hardly for everyone, but the filming, the plotting and some of the acting makes for an intriguing 90 minutes.

Note: Another title for this film, from either the theatrical poster or ratings advice, was All Our Days

Credits:

Written and directed by Cheang Pou-soi
Script: Lee Siu-kay
Starring Grace Lam Nga-sze, Cyrus Chow and Chan Kwok-pong