Search - Lost in Time on DVD

Love is thicker than blood

Pippa Lee | Honolulu, HI USA | 02/05/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Before you insert this movie in your DVD player, go get yourself a box of Kleenex. Ready? "Lost in Time" may be a tearjerker but it is a good, heart-warming drama. Cecilia Cheung plays Holly Lam Siu Wai, a young woman whose life turns upside down overnight when her fiance is killed in a car accident. Instead of a wedding and a happy life with her future husband, she is left with the pain of the loss of the man she deeply loved, a mounting pile of bills to pay and a little boy to raise. Her family is no help. They believe that she is not responsible for her fiance's son, Laurie, since she is not the biological mother and never got to marry the father either. In other words, the little boy is not family. Holly's bond with the boy is not a bond of blood, but it is a bond of love and for the well being of this kid, she takes up her late fiance's job as a mini bus driver. As she begins to learn the job, one of her fellow workers, Dai Lau (or Hale as he's called in the subtitles and played by Lau Ching- Wan) feels compelled to keep an eye out for her because he was the first to arrive to the scene of the tragic accident that killed Holly's fiance. As Hale becomes more involved in helping her and Holly comes to rely more on him for advice and support, they start to develop affection for each other, but is it love? Or is it gratitude? Or is it guilt?
"Lost in Time" may be a melodrama but there is nothing melodramatic about the acting. The actors are just perfect for their roles. Cecilia Cheung's petite frame adds poignancy to the scenes where her character is trying to master the mini bus. And she makes it heart wrenching for the audience to watch her character work so hard at trying to hold together a semblance of the life she had before the accident. Lau Ching-Wan is also very good as a bus driver and the man with a few skeletons in the relationship closet. I don't think a more glamorous actor would have filled the role as well as Lau does with his average Joe looks. And the little boy played by Daichi Harashima? Well, he is cute as a button and he'll bring tears to your eyes. This DVD also has a making-of featurette with comments from the cast and director. Unfortunately, this portion does not have subtitles.
"Loss in Time" is a moving and touching drama about coping with loss and about what family is. If this movie does not leave you teary-eyed, at least, it should have you consider buying life insurance if you have loved ones who depend on you financially."

A Nice Surprise

Anticlimacus | 02/19/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"My online rental queue is filled with hundreds of East Asian films, some of which I add without knowing all that much about them. When Lost In Time came in the mail, I was expecting a generic romance film. I am now very happy to confess that I was very, very wrong.

The storyline itself is not particularly novel or original, but the character development here is outstanding. The filmmakers successfully used actions over words to build the foundations of the main characters. Cecilia Cheung is thrown into a very difficult situation early on. The introduction of her struggles, one after the other, adds significantly to her likability, and the viewer develops a deep concern for her wellbeing. No explicit conversations of her difficulties are even necessary because I experienced them with her. Ching Wan Lau comes off as an authentic gentleman who's good deeds are motivated by a rather complex history. The young boy did admirably and was extremely likable.

There is one scene in particular, that takes place during the second half of the film, which I consider to be one of the greatest in the history of cinema. I rarely cry while watching films. Joint Security Area forced a few tears down my cheek, but "The Scene" in Lost In Time made me cry so profusely that I had to stop the film and take a break to regain my composure. It's that damn good! To be honest, Lost In Time hit me like a ton of bricks in a very positive and happy way. It has earned it's place as one of my favorite Romance films, and comes with my highest of recommendations."