Needing You

A romantic film that Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai directed together. In the 1990s, To and Wai often co-operated on the same productions. The film is based on a successful radio play that was performed by Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng. They also played the leads in this film and turned it into a hit. Lau was already a box office attraction and Needing You turned Sammi Cheng into a star in Hong Kong too.
Andy Lau plays the role of Wah-Siu, a smooth seducer and manager with a large electronics company. Cheng plays Kinki, an assistant who has been transferred to Wah-Siu’s department and has just found out that her boyfriend is two-timing her. She is psychologically unstable and has an attack of cleaning mania. At first her new boss thinks she is strange, but he soon realises she has a special personality. An old flame of Wah-Siu’s is most upset that Kinki is so highly regarded and she arranges the arrival of a romantic rival.
The genre has a tendency to become oversentimental, but neither director falls into this trap. They have skilfully avoided an excess of dialogue. They tell as much as possible in images and actions to get the film up to speed and stay there. (GjZ)