生日快樂 Happy Birthday

每年的生日，小米 Mi (劉若英 Rene Lau 飾) 都坐立不安的等待著一封風雨不改的電郵，一封從小南 Nam(古天樂  Louis Koo  飾)，一個她從來無法忘記的人寄來的生日電郵。10年後，滂沱大雨之下，這封電郵遲了42個小時。但小南真的忘了“生日快樂”這個祝福的承諾嗎？

小米與小南被大學同學公認為會是最早結婚的一對。小米是個從沒安全感的女孩，因為害怕失去，那夜她竟在小南懷中要求只作比好朋友好的朋友；小南是個受歡迎的男孩，他一心愛著小米，然而他從不能搞懂小米的想法。他們就像是兩種奇怪的生物，如此的相互需要、相互吸引，卻又是如此的不能共存。小南往外國升學後，二人分手了，卻仍然保持著相互取暖、比好朋友好的朋友關係。無論小米和小南身邊出現多少情人、無論小米怎麼口口聲聲的說她不會嫁給小南，身旁朋友都深深感到，小米只愛小南，小南也只愛小米，總有一天他們會名正言順的走在一起。

然而多年後，他們盼望的都沒有來臨，一天，小南竟說自己將要結婚。小米這才醒覺，這一次，她是真真正正的失去小南… 10年聚散，他天天都掛念著她，每一年，小米都會收到小南的一個生日電郵，一年一次的連繫，讓彼此知道對方的關心… 然而因為一個秘密… 他們守護著彼此也傷害了彼此…

繼【心動】後，改編自劉若英的短篇小說《Happy Birthday》，張艾嘉編劇，導演馬楚成最新浪漫感人作品。從大學時代開始的10個生日歲月裡，在每年生日的祝福中，一對聚散又分離的情侶，究竟能不能得到彼此歸屬的幸福呢？

Happy Birthday is a visually poetic portrait of a woman's inability to establish a fruitful romantic relationship owing to a lack of a sense of security.

A tragic love story can easily become a tear jerker, yet the director handles the subject with tact and tries hard to move the audience with a simple love story. Xiao Mi, influenced by her mother's sudden leave in her childhood, becomes a vulnerable girl who lacks confidence and is easily freaked out by the idea of loss. She is worried that a handsome boy will go one day and that's why she refuses to call Xiao Nam her boyfriend. Her personality results in regrets...

Thanks to the Muji-like setting, the love story looks purer and more simple. The white walls, the cream-coloured cushions,  the beige teapoy, etc, may linger in your mind when you leave the theatre. The props are also carefully chosen to show the moving time. The soundtrack is more touching than the movie and I love the theme song very much. It has been with me for several nights. By the way, the setting and the characters' names also remind me of 向左走向右走. 幾米's fans may like this film!

The cast's performance is beyond my expectation. Rene Lau (劉若英)'s finely nuanced performance is much appreciated. 古天樂, 吳耀漢, 周俊偉 and 吳嘉龍 also act naturally, whereas it is not convincing for Mr. Ku to act a university student when the wrinkles on his forehead can be obviously seen and 曾寶儀 slightly overacts.

Because of the moving trialer, I expected too much before watching the movie. As a result, I was a bit disappointed owing to several reasons. First, there is an unpredictable twist at the end, but it is not an original one. I heard some people complain that the ending was old-fashioned. Second, I feel little pity for Xiao Mi as it is SHE who proposes being his best friend first and it is also SHE who regrets. If I were her, I won't announce that I wanna change the relationship. Once she does so, she should know that he can have another girlfriend and may even get married. Later, Mi even has sex with Nam while she knows that he has a grilfriend in Hong Kong! After TEN years, is it reasonable for Nam to get married with another woman when she never calls Nam her boyfriend and she allows him to have another girlfriend? Third, the first hour of the movie is a bit boring. Fourth, it is a pity that Rene's voice is dubbed into Cantonese.

Although I personally find the plot mediocre and the ending slightly disappointing, Rene's subtle performance, the Muji-like setting and those memorable and delicate quotes deserve our praise. I give this honest Hong Kong movie 3 stars out of 5.