A Simple Life

A film that will tickle the taste buds as well as satisfy much else. Deanie Ip puts in a career defining performance and, as she puts it, acting as an old lady is not difficult at all, as she is just playing herself. In lesser hands the film may have become a mawkishly sentimental mess or a tub thumping tirade about the treatment of elderly Hong Kongers, or even worse, both. Instead, thanks to Hui's sensitive direction and the loving focus on the central relationship beautifully played by Ip and Lau, A Simple Life is one of the best and most rewarding films you are likely to see for many a year and deserves all the praise and many awards lavished upon it.

Thanks to Verve Pictures.