A Simple Life
(Tao Jie)

The title specifies a characteristic Ann Hui favours more and more in her films. Based on Roger Lee’s true story (the film’s producer and co-scriptwriter) and a house maid here devoted to serving the Leung family and its last Hongkongese representative, Roger (Andy Lau), this simple life distils all the ingredients that could have made it into tearjerker. But by reversing the positions in the characters’ relationships, Ann Hui favours a subtle, discreet and otherly sensitive distance over melodramatic tropes. Her film was crowned with praise for this. JB