5. Comrades: Almost a Love Story
Peter Chan's delicate romantic drama is a unique story. At the centre of it resides a romance born out of loneliness and isolation and it is a tale strewn together by destiny as Leon Lai's Li Xiao-Jun and Maggie Cheung's Li Qiao refuse to be separated forever, despite formidable barriers. They are in fact polar opposite people as Xiao-Jun is naïve and from the north whilst Qiao is from Guangzhao and incredibly ruthless and ambitious, but they are connected to each other through a shared loneliness in an alien city. They are eventually separated but continue to long for each other, despite reaching their respective goals. Maggie Cheung, as she always seems to be is the star of the show as Li Qiao and more than deserved her Best Actress win at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her performance in the movie. Chan's movie has a deft cultural awareness that is also accessible to those who know little of Hong Kong/Chinese culture and it's also his enduring masterpiece that will hopefully be watched for decades to come.