A loving and unfliching look at caring and adversity in one woman's life
Directed by Ann Hui, A Simple Life (Tao Jie) is a film based on the true story of a woman who worked her entire life as a servant for the family of Hong Kong film producer Roger Lee (who co-wrote the script with Susan Chan), looking after Lee in particular from childhood to adulthood with such affection and devotion that when she suffered a stroke in her later years, Lee and his family reversed their roles and looked after her.
The film begins with Roger Leung (Andy Lau), an accountant in the film industry, who lives in an apartment in Hong Kong with an elderly woman he calls Ah Tao (Deanie Ip), a servant who has worked for his family since before he was even born and now works for him personally. He is leaving on an overnight trip for a business meeting on a new film project and they discuss what she should cook for him while he's gone. When he says he wants ox tongue, a particular favorite dish of his, she chidingly reminds him that he's supposed to be avoiding fatty...
That's the Way Life Goes
Ann Hui's 2011 Hong Kong film "A Simple Life" ("Tao jie") is sweet, funny, poignant and above all real. Story-wise the film is pretty basic and predictable. What matters in this moving portrait of modern Chinese life is the two main characters you really care: an elderly woman called Ah Tao (Deannie Yip), who has been serving for the Leungs, a well-to-do family in Hong Kong for more than 60 years since she was 13, and Roger Leung (Andy Lau), the family's only son, working in the film industry.
Ah Tao has been taking care of Roger since he was a baby. With other family members scattered all over the world, Roger alone lives in Hong Kong. Ah Tao cooks and cleans for Roger living in a small apartment room, but when she has a stroke, she quits the job and enters a home for the elderly.
Based on the producer Roger Lee Yan-Lam's life, the deceptively simple story has a lot to offer, including keenly observed accounts of ordinary people. What makes this film special is...
An authentically written and fairly satisfying drama
Ah Tao (Deanie Ip) has been attending to Roger's (Andy Lau) family for 60 years. As a movie producer who is always going to meetings out of town, Roger seems to take Ah Tao's maid services for granted; that all changes when Ah Tao has a stroke, retires, and willingly decides to live in a retirement home. Now with their roles reversed, Roger is unsure whether he'll be able to tend to Ah Tao the way she did to his family for generations while Ah Tao just wants to avoid being a burden. However their bond only grows stronger with the role reversal and their relationship seems to amplify because of it.
Andy Lau has become fairly well-known in the states for his performances in the crime trilogy "Infernal Affairs," action films such as "Fulltime Killer," "The Legend of Drunken Master," and "Shaolin," the comedy "God of Gamblers," and the mystery film "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame." Like most stars from Hong Kong who are approaching middle age, Lau has...
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