Free Movie Review About Comrades: Almost A Love Story-Summary

This film is about two Chinese people from mainland China who migrate to Hong Kong with the objective making a living. The two Chinese mainlanders, Li Xiao-Jun and Li Qiao end up falling in love whilst in Hong Kong. Whereas Li Xiao-Jun is a naive person from northern China, Li Qiao is an opportunist who takes advantage of the naivety of mainland Chinese people to attain financial gains. Although the two people have fallen in love, circumstances separate them because Li Xiao-Jun has plans to bring his wife to Hong Kong whereas Li Qiao is planning to work hard and become wealthy in Hong Kong. The separation between the two becomes solid when Li Xiao Jun eventually married his fiancé, Yang in Hong Kong while Li Qiao establishes a relationship with Pong, a mob boss. Li Qiao also becomes a very successful business person in Hong Kong. Their clandestine persists despite the fact that both are in separate committed love relationships.
The relationship between Li Xiao Jun and Li Qiao causes Li Xiao to move to United States with his wife after confessing to his wife about his unfaithfulness. He gets to work as a cook in the United States after leaving Hong Kong. Pao, after being chased by Hong Kong police, escapes with his wife to the United States where they become illegal immigrants. The two lovers: Li Xiao Jun and Li Qiao, later meet after ten years in New York as lonely immigrants. They had also been freed from their former relationships, Li Xiao Jun having separated with his wife while Li Qiao, having remained single after Pao’s death in a robbery attempt in the United States. The film ends with the two lovers meeting in the United States after a very long period of time as lonely immigrants.
It is quite an interesting romantic film. One of the scenes that are very captivating is when Li Xiaojun was helping Li Qiao to put on her coat. In this scene, Xiaojun helps Li Qiao in buttoning up the coat. However, in the process, the two actors get closer to each stimulating a romantic atmosphere that causes them to hurriedly unbutton the coat they had just been buttoning a few seconds ago. It is an interest scene as it incorporates humour and romance to emphasize the influence of fate on the love relationship between Xiaojun and Li Qiao. The film does highlights some of the challenges that immigrants from mainland China were facing whenever they went to Hong Kong to make a living. Life in Hong Kong was quite tough, requiring a person to engage in different part-time jobs for him or her to keep pace with the tough economic conditions. This is depicted by Li Qiao who, despite having a job at the McDonald’s, she also runs a side business of peddling flowers. Xianjun has to make necessary adjustments in order to fit the in this very fast world.
The film also highlights the values of people within Hong Kong in 1997 or thereabouts. When Xiajun meets Li Qiao, they do fall in love but deny that fact because they have completely different ambitions. The two lovers’ ambitions are centred on money. Xiajun wants to make enough money to send for his fiancé whereas Li Qiao wants to become a successful entrepreneur in Hong Kong. It can, therefore, be noted that the desire or rather clamour for money was a crucial element of the Hong Kong society’s value system. Despite their love for each other, Xianjun and Li Qiao, would rather pursue wealth and financial gains rather than nurture their love. Indeed, this explains why Li Qiao ended marrying Pao and becoming a successful business person whereas Xianjun married his long time fiancé.
The film also shows that however much people may try to avoid love relationships and instead pursue wealth among other material things, love would still come knocking at their doors. The two lovers eventually fulfilled their ambitions: Xianjun accumulates enough money to send for and eventually marry is fiancé. Li Qiao, on the other hand, becomes a successful business person and also marries a wealthy person. Despite this, their love did not fade as they kept seeing each other whenever they had an opportunity. Xianjun escapes to the United States but love pursues and catches up with him as he bumps into Li Qiao on the streets of New York.