Trailer
First part of the movie
I became an instant fan of Jay Chou because of his great unique music. From here on, I've watched Green Hornet only because he was there and I totally loved it. I mean no joke, he was hilarious there and his acting is rather believable for me. He knows how to act I'm sure of that.
So, I immediately went on to look for other movies of him. I watched Initial D: Drift Racer, the live action movie adaptation of the classic and popular Japanese manga and anime last Friday. I'm not really the type of a person who likes car racing movies but then I gambled on this movie because I wanted to see Jay in another movie. Turns out, I loved the movie! I wasn't expecting I'd love it. Fast and the Furious is a useless garbage compared to Initial D. Although his role as Takumi Fujiwara was quite boring for some, but then the role calls for it and he perfectly fits the role since his real introverted personality is quite similar to that of the manga character Takumi.
I kinda like his team-up with Anne Suzuki. They do look good together and of course who could forget that topless Jay scene and his first on-screen kiss. Totally cannot forget his expression in that scene. After watching Initial D, I was looking for Curse of the Golden Flower. I know this movie but I didn't know he was in that movie. I found it on YouTube but it's English dubbed, I hate it. I couldn't find a version of it that's English subtitled and on Tuesday, out of curiosity I clicked the video of Secret. I had no idea what it's about since I haven't read information on all his movies.
At first look, it looks to me an interesting movie. I went on to watch it but I was hoping that it wouldn't be boring. Surprisingly, I wasn't bored at all although I may have to agree with some reviews that the dialogue were quite lacking in depth in some way. However, I did enjoy it too since it was humorous. I knew that it's a love story. I was expecting it to be a plain love story, with the difference of outstanding musical score and cinematography.
As the story progresses, I found myself enjoying the movie. I initially suspected that the girl, Xiao Yu is a ghost. I was like, oh so this is a love story of one musically talented human and another talented one but a ghost. His attention got caught by the music Xiao Yu was playing. However when he asked her what's the name of the song she was playing, she said it's a secret. Xiang Lun thinks that she's always late for class and sometimes even skips class but Xiao Yu says she's just practicing. They became fast friends which became more intimate. On the other hand, Xiang Lun's classmate Qing Yi is also in love with him. One day, Xiang Lun mistakenly passes a note to Qing Yi because he thought it was Xiao Yu seated at the back to meet at the old piano room at 7:00PM. At the old piano room, Qing Yi arrives and kissed Xiang Lun and Xiao Yu was there to see it. She ran away the moment Xiang Lun realized it was Qing Yi who kissed him.
She disappeared for five months after that. He went to her house but failed to see her. He started hanging out with Qing Yi then. Xiao Yu only came back to see him for the last time during Xiang Lun's graduation because she remembered his promise that he will play a song he wrote for her. Upon seeing her, Xiang Lun ran to her but his father immediately takes him away to go back to the hall. She disappears again. It's only after he went back again to Xiao Yu's house that he started to know what was going on. Her mother gave him the photo of Xiao Yu with Xiang Lun's dad. He asks his dad about it and that's when he found out what really happened to Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu died.
Xiao Yu gave the manuscript of the Secret to his dad in 1979. Just as he was getting the manuscript to show it to him, Xiang Lun disappeared.
Upon finding out the truth, he rushed to the old piano building. He now realized why she told him before not to play the Secret at the old piano room. He went inside the old piano room and started to play the Secret as the building is starting to get demolished.
Xiang Lun's dad was looking at the manuscript when he noticed something written at the back. It says, " It doesn't matter if we'll see each other again. It doesn't matter if you remember me. I just want to tell you a secret. I love you. " - Liu Xiao Yu
He noticed that the upper left part of the page was folded and he unfolded it. To his shock, he saw his son's name written. He rushed to the building to save his son for what he's about to do.
Xiang Lun remembers asking her before why she plays the Secret so fast and she said she plays it that way when she goes back. He plays it so fast just before the building got totally torn down. When he opened the classroom door, there he saw Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu smiled at him but doesn't seem to know or even remember him.
Xiang Lun stays in the past year 1979 with Xiao Yu. No one but just the two of them know the Secret. With the old piano building now gone too, there seems to be no other way for Xiang Lun to return to the present.
***
Guey Lun-Mei and Jay has a good working chemistry and I find it delightful to see the relationship of Xiao Yu and Xiang Lun develop. By the way, Anthony Wong's appearance as again the father of Jay in this movie is just wonderful. That's Bunta - tofu man! He's an amazing actor, I don't even see the Bunta Fujiawara in him as Xiang Lun's dad here. He's funny too, I can't help but laugh when he does something that annoys his son.
One of the best scenes in the movie for me was the piano battle. Jay is a virtuoso. I'm simply awed just by simply watching him play the piano even the most difficult Chopin piece. And of course, I love the accidental kissing between Xiang Lun and Qing Yi, it looked totally cute. They looked like they were giving each other little bites. The biking scenes were really lovely too and the disco scene. He looked adorable dancing. I'm sure Jay Chou fans know that he doesn't dance that often. And of course the part where he was playing Secret in the old piano room before the old building gets torn down.
Jay's acting here was much better than Initial D. He improved to be honest although still quite lacking emotions especially in some scenes. But I don't know I was touched by his performance. Guey Lun-Mei was great as Xiao Yu. Although I agree again that the supporting casts were quite boring but nevertheless it was surprisingly a really good movie.
One thing I really loved about the movie is that I wasn't able to predict what will happen. The story suddenly took a turn when it was about to end. What a twist! It proved me wrong that it was an ordinary plain love story. It was indeed not ordinary.
I mentioned earlier that I thought she was a ghost. Then the next thing she was talking to Qing Yi so I had the notion that maybe she's not a ghost and she's human. You don't get to learn until part 9 from YT that she wasn't a ghost but a girl from the past who accidentally time traveled through the Secret. And you only get to know that she got to talk to Qing Yi because the first person that she sees is the only one who can see her. Which is also the reason why during her first encounter with Xiang Lun, when he asked her name it was Qing Yi who answered because only him can see her.
So all those times of them together, Xiang Lun was just by himself looking crazy because Xiao Yu can't be seen by others. One more thing, Da-Yong the caretaker at the school sees Xiao Yu. I think the reason why he can see her is that he was in the past with her. He was part of the past. But there's something I noticed. In the last part Xiang Lun was in the graduation photo with Xiao Yu. How can he be seen in the photo when it's supposed to be Xiao Yu alone who can see him? And how come Xiao Yu's mother talks like Xiao Yu is still alive whenever Xiang Lun comes by? These two questions remain unanswered for me. I'm dying to know why.
It is a happy ending but then I can't seem to explain to myself why I'm feeling sad about it. Xiang Lun is happy to finally be with her forever. Although he may have to start from scratch since he went a bit too far from the time that they came to know each other. I can't help but cry at the thought that he's eternally stuck in the past. I can't help but think about what happened to his dad. Another thing that wasn't shown in the movie and so is Xiao Yu's mother.
There were a lot of twists and turns during the latter part of the movie. I didn't expect all of that and wasn't able to predict not even one of those. I totally love the movie, it's worth watching over and over. I actually watched it again last night that's why I noticed some things I didn't see the first time. So, I cried again at the ending. It just breaks my heart to see him be stuck in the past although that's where he's happy.
Two thumbs up for Director Chou for successfully making his directorial debut. He's really good as an amateur director since his directorial experiences only are from his music videos. I recommend this movie to anyone. Honestly, this was even far better than Il Mare, the Korean movie with time travel situation too. I found this to be more carefully thought and reasonable. Il Mare's ending was like just pure magic. You don't know how they got to meet each other. At least in this, there were real encounters between the two and you know how she got to the present and vice versa.
One of the best movies I've seen. Jay even co-wrote the musical score for the movie. He also co-wrote the story. I'm hoping to see more Jay Chou directed quality films. My God, he's just brilliant!
I love you Jay Chou! :)
