Produced by by a trilogy of greats - Johnnie To, Ringo Lam and Wong Jing, director Benny Chan's A Moment Of Romance was one of the finest, teen-angst drama, gangster movies of its time. Starring the never ageing and handsome Andy Lau in one of his best roles and performances, the film spawned a couple of sequels and inspired a host of wanna-be's!
Beautiful lighting compliments the great cinematography capturing many night scenes and a raw grittiness of Hong Kong, backed by a great cast, top stunt work and violent action scenes courtesy of Yuen Bun and Bruce Law, with Bun also getting a cameo role.
Although the blend of teen drama, gangsters and romance may have been rife in Hong Kong, Andy Lau was the king of such genre and A Moment Of Romance polishes all the rough edges, delivering a blinding film that is hard to beat. The wonderful Ng Man Tat is as great as always, playing Wah Dee's street uncle who gets picked on by the local hoodlums and likes to annoy the traffic wardens by popping quarters in the parking meters as they are about to run out...
Although many people like to criticise Andy Lau's acting, its hard to deny the man his dues after 30 years of entertaining us with over 170 films (not to mention his TV and music accolades). In the same year as A Moment Of Romance, Lau had made 10 features in all, most of which are considered some of his best and some that I love personally. The man is a machine, and even with that pressure on him in just 12 months, can still provide such an amazing performance like this one.
Tense, emotional, and playing like a modern day Romeo & Juliet - A Moment Of Romance is one of Benny Chan's finest and one of Hong Kong cinema's best. It's darkly violent, intense finale comes with some lump-in-the-throat moments on the stunningly lit streets of Hong Kong. Love it!
Overall: Superbly made and brilliantly acted, A Moment Of Romance is one of Hong Kong cinema's finest examples of a non-martial arts film from the golden years...
