Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂) Movie Review | by tiffanyyong.com
Recommended Audience: Fans of Jacky Cheung 张学友, Karena Lam 林嘉欣, Anthony Wong 黄秋生, Law Lan 罗兰, Yuen Kim Wai 袁劍偉 and Hong Kong movie fans
Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂) Movie Synopsis
After sharing a passionate kiss with Pastor To (Jacky Cheung), Michelle (Karena Lam) files sexual harassment charges against the pastor. The scandal and the proceedings take their toll on both of them in different ways. When they meet again years after, To and Michelle both realize that truth and absolution was never the ultimate destination. Adapted from the original play “French Kiss” by Candace Chong.
Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂) Viewer Rating: 4/5 ****
Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂) Movie Review:
This film is where you either hate it or love it. It might even take you more than one watch to notice the depth of the story. The film was made on the basis of a statement: There’s no truth, there’s only perception. Knowing this might help you appreciate the film a little more.
Revolving around the two characters, charismatic Pastor-cum-Businessman-To (Jacky Cheung) and meek Michelle (Karena Lam), the story was told with several intercuts of flashbacks. It wasn’t difficult differentiating the now and then, as the young and innocent then-Michelle had minimal makeup while Pastor To was less rugged back then. Using definitions and quotes from the bible, the story revolved around temptation (be it monetary or sexual), as well as the definition of what is “right” and “wrong”.
The director had an interesting supporting cast. Aside from long-time-no-see Wong Hei as a fellow pastor, Edmond So (苏志威) from Grasshopper boyband (草蜢) and Dayo Wong Tze Wah’s (黄子华) cameo appearances were little surprises for Hong Kong movie fans.
But what impressed me was the use of veteran actress Law Lan (罗兰) in the court case against Anthony Wong (黄秋生). Anthony Wong is such a strong actor that it was difficult to picture any actor “fighting” against him, but with Law Lan, the pairing was amazingly interesting.
Karena’s performance was amazing in here. Or yes, if you don’t like the film, you could say she’s crazily psychotic. With dialogue-centric plot in one single private room, it was enthralling to see how the two actors hurl lines at one another and the old wounds (or hidden insults) slowly reveal itself to the audience. While I do still feel bewildered by the amount of harm a simple “French Kiss” had caused in this film, it was still an insight to peek into the inner world of a meek devotee.
Do You Know?
This is the first time Jacky Cheung team up with Karena Lam after their last film (July Rhapsody) 13 years ago. It was Karena Lam’s first film back then.
In this new film, Karena Lam was supposed to seduce Jacky Cheung while under the watchful eyes of her real-life husband Steve Yuen. Steve Yuen is the director for this film. Jacky Cheung complained that Karena and Steve keeps calling each other mommy and daddy on set and that left him in no mood at all to be seduced.
Jacky Cheung was impressed with Karena’s acting skills and how she could cry from the eye that was facing the camera while saying a line.
Behind The Scenes and Interviews
Check out Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂) Facebook Page!
Heaven in the Dark (暗色天堂) is out in cinemas on 7 April 2016.
xoxo
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*Disclosure: Invitation from Clover Films Singapore. No monetary compensation was received for the movie review.
1/2 of #TheEpiphanyDuplet, Tiffany Yong juggles her ABCs – Acting, Blogging and Coaching/Consulting as she is fuelled by passion and drive to succeed.
It is not easy to make a living in Singapore just purely based on Acting, so with Blogging to help her with her online presence, and Coaching kids drama, private tutoring and freelance social media consulting to finance her life, she is currently leading the life most people hope to have: Living the Dream!
I actually enjoy movies like this about perceptions vs he said she said drama. It makes you think doesn’t it?! This sounds interesting, I’m definitely a fan of a good scandal entertainment.
This movie sounds boiling hot. Your review of it is cool – depicts expectation and issues toying religious path amongst different people. Your country has a good production and blessed with talented storylines.
It sounds like a really controversial one, mixing religion, and romance, as well as deceit, greed, and the like. But the solid cast does make me want to watch it.
i don’t know why but i always avoid hk films. think its a habit
Quite interesting plot! Would love to watch this one. Intense movie it must be.
This is quite a bold story line for people to watch as have seen something similar earlier as there is always a kind of conflict based on been religious.
It sounds worth watching. I like movies sometimes that really get you thinking.
Not a big fan of emotional dramas. The concept sounds intense and emotional. I may not watch it!
The statement “There’s no truth, there’s only perception” is quite interesting. Some people believe a perception to be a truth. Others distort the truth through perception. It often depends on where the person is coming from. Just like the four blind men and the elephant. 🙂
Perception indeed is difficult to prove. He said, she said. Her word against his. I do not like films about wrongful accusations and how the ruin the life of the man. This can really happen in real life and you have to take precautions not to let it happen.
The movie looks intense and covers so much social topics. I would love to see how they use the flashbacks in telling the story and then and now.
This looks like it would be a great movie to see in the theatre. I love a bit of intrigue and scandal!
Sounds rather interesting. Funny but I don’t think I would have been able to do a scene with my husband close by but I guess they know how to make it work. 🙂
Interesting and quite a controversial plot! I love your movie reviews and recommendations. Gives me a glimpse of movies made in other countries!
It sounds like an interesting film that would spark debate between people who are religious and those that aren’t. I would like to see how the story unfolds.