Tempting Heart

Tempting Heart
Directed by	Sylvia Chang
Written by	Sylvia Chang Cat Kwan
Produced by	John Chong Solon So
Starring	Takeshi Kaneshiro Gigi Leung Karen Mok
Cinematography	Mark Lee Ping-bing
Edited by	Kwong Chi-Leung
Music by	Kay Huang
Release date	23 September 1999 (1999-09-23) (Hong Kong)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese
Box office	HK$12,463,633[1]

Tempting Heart (Chinese: 心動) is a 1999 Hong Kong romantic drama film directed and co-written by Sylvia Chang. It stars Takeshi Kaneshiro and Gigi Leung as a pair of onscreen lovers. The film has a notable theme song "Xin Dong", performed by Shino Lin Xiao Pei, which became a radio hit and can still be frequently heard on the radio or at karaoke bars/boxes^[2].

The success of Tempting Heart prompted director Johnnie To to cast Kaneshiro and Leung in his 2003 film Turn Left Turn Right.

Plot

Sylvia Chang plays a director who intends to make a romance film and begins to wonder about the role fate plays in relationships. She ends up re-examining her own first love in a completely different light. The story is set in two different periods of time, one in the 1970s where Gigi plays the teenage Xiao-rou, and the other in the 1990s where Sylvia plays the older Xiao-rou.

Takeshi Kaneshiro plays the role of a shy teenager, Ho-jun, who falls in love with Xiao-rou (played by Gigi Leung). Their relationship turns intimate but faces fierce objections from their parents. Karen Mok plays Chen-li, Xiao-rou's best friend, whom Xiao-rou confides in.

This teenage love soon fizzles out owing to misunderstandings and Ho-jun, after many years, turns to marry Chen-li. One day, Chen-li reveals that she is a lesbian and that they both love the same girl – Xiao-rou.

Ho-jun meets Xiao-rou on a trip to Japan and upon knowing that Ho-jun is already married, Xiao-rou returns home and gets herself engaged. Ho-jun manages a last attempt to reunite with Xiao-rou by flying to Hong Kong and telling her that he is already a divorcee, but it is to no avail.

Years later, Xiao-rou finds out that Ho-jun's wife was actually Chen-li. She discovers this only after Chen-li has died. Chen-li leaves a message for Xiao-rou asking her for forgiveness. As Xiao rou prepares to fly back to Hong Kong from Japan, she receives a present from Ho-jun. In the box were photographs, taken when Ho-jun was thinking about Xiao-rou and of their brief moments of happiness.

It is only at the end of the film when it is tactfully revealed that the director Sylvia Chang was actually re-enacting her own teenage romance.

Cast

• Takeshi Kaneshiro – Ho-jun
• Gigi Leung – Sheo-rou (Xiao-rou)
• Karen Mok – Chen-Li
• Sylvia Chang – Cheryl
• Leon Dai – Ho-jun (middle age)
• Elaine Jin – Sheo-rou's mom
• Jo Kuk
• Audrey Mak
• William So – Screenwriter
• Michael Tong
• Cher Yeung

Awards and nominations

See also

• List of Hong Kong films

References

External links

• Tempting Heart at IMDb
• HK Cinemagic entry Archived 30 June 2022 at the Wayback Machine