The good Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To is broadly identified for his riveting gangster dramas, with operatic gun fights, tense drama, and conflicted characters. However To is a talented filmmaker in many various genres, and one among my favourite movies of his is the superb romantic comedy Don’t Go Breaking My Coronary heart, which he co-directed with frequent collaborator Wai Ka-fai. It’s the most effective love triangle motion pictures ever, and it’s an ideal film to get cozy and watch with somebody you’ve gotten a crush on this vacation season. And if you wish to watch it, the clock is ticking: It’s leaving Netflix Dec. 1, and there’s at present no different strategy to watch it — there’s no strategy to hire or buy it digitally, no different streaming service has it, and bodily releases vary from “exorbitantly costly” to “tough to search out.”
Starring three attractive and charming folks (an important basis for a romance), Don’t Go Breaking My Coronary heart follows Chi-yan (Gao Yuanyuan), a not too long ago single monetary analyst who finds her coronary heart pulled between two competing suitors: a CEO (Louis Koo) who stood her up, and an architect (Daniel Wu) she helps get again on his toes after going by means of a tough time.
Each males are charming and suave, however supply completely different attributes as potential companions — Koo’s CEO is extra eliminated emotionally however affords monetary stability, whereas Wu’s architect is filled with romantic craving, however he’s nonetheless choosing up the items of his life. It’s comprehensible why the selection is tough — this isn’t your typical “one good choice, one unhealthy” love triangle story (and To makes use of the background of a monetary disaster to cleverly painting discovering a life associate as an act of comparability purchasing within the free market of relationship). Particular person viewers can have their very own choice for which associate she chooses, however you could possibly see her being content material with both of them. In addition they find yourself working, at completely different instances, within the constructing throughout from the place Chi-yan works. That results in one among Don’t Go Breaking My Coronary heart’s most charming touches: The characters flirt by placing up sticky notes on the massive glass home windows of their buildings, making smiley faces and sending messages to one another. The glass home windows are additionally an important alternative for one of many age-old rom-com tropes: Combine-ups and miscommunications resulting in hijinks.
The film’s ceaselessly humorous, too, with sight gags, laugh-out-loud dialogue, and bodily comedy galore. Half His Woman Friday, half Playtime, and all enjoyable, Don’t Go Breaking My Coronary heart is a superb instance of a generational director working on the peak of his powers and completely nailing a style.
Don’t Go Breaking My Coronary heart is streaming on Netflix by means of Nov. 30.