Eternal Love (2000)

Alex (Fong) is a producer and songwriter finding his music falling out of favour at the record company. He's lost his edge and even his close friends and partner admit his demo tracks are outdated. When his girlfriend splits for Canada, Alex finds himself boozing in a bar and spots Ivy (Mung). It's instant attraction and soon they're gazing into each other's eyes in drunken adoration. Soon it's not only love between them - Alex wants to turn Ivy into an idol, with his songs fueling her rise.

It's not so simple. The A&R folks think Alex's tunes won't sell and bring in ace songsmith Mark to fashion the boilerplate hits. Ivy's debut album Forever has the public queuing in record shops but Alex, of course, hates the tunes Mark pens. Dejected by the music biz and frustrated, he jets off to Taiwan for inspiration and to find himself. And he sets about penning the masterpiece he promised Ivy.

Eternal Love is as much about the Hong Kong music industry as it is a love story. Much of its tale revolves around, or relates to, the industry system and Hong Kong's karaoke-friendly pop assembly line. "It's hard to be a musician", moans one producer about an industry where composers copy each other, and idol singers consider Alex for name value. The appearance of hired-gun hitmaker Mark shows producers sticking to the road well-trodden. Driving the point, Joe Junior and his band (representing the Hong Kong pop old guard) moan that stars can no longer sing and that Hongkongers no longer care for live music. Joe soon leaves for Taiwan in hopes of finding an appreciative audience there. It's impressive to see this covered in a film playing theatres to teen audiences. But come Eternal Love's finale, the theme is less meaningful when Alex's "masterpiece" is no radical musical departure from common Canto-ballad arrangements.

Production standards are given a lift with two quality actors taking the bulk of the screen time. The temptation to hire an idol singer-actress for the Ivy role is swept away for the better when Yoyo Mung is on screen. She's dubbed for the singing bits (in chorus, no less) but it's nice to see the acting talent on screen. Helena Law's character as Granny appears irrelevant in a role that's becoming cliched. The direction is competent enough, with occasional good use of crane shots, some crisp colour and lighting, and natty edits in a drinking scene. A straightforward production, Eternal Love surprised me as a pleasing, unassuming melodrama.

Eternal Love hand-painted billboard pasted up at the Imperial Cinema

Posters cling to this bank entrance on a Sunday

Credits:

Starring Alex Fong Chung-sun, Yoyo Mung Ka-wai, Helena Law Lan, Joe Junior and Kenneth Lau