Anna Magdalena

1998 Hong Kong film

4 April 1998 (1998-04-04)

Running time

98 minutes^[4]CountryHong KongLanguageCantoneseBox officeHK$7,805,160

Anna Magdalena (Chinese: 安娜瑪德蓮娜) is a 1998 Hong Kong romantic fantasy comedy film starring Aaron Kwok, Kelly Chen and Takeshi Kaneshiro. It was the directorial debut of production designer Yee Chung-Man.

Title

The title refers to the keyboard piece Minuet in G Major believed to have been written by Johann Sebastian Bach's colleague, Christian Petzold, from the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach.^[1] Anna Magdalena was Bach's second wife. The music attracts the attention of Chan Kar-fu and Yau Muk-yan as Mok Man-yee plays it on her piano. The film score uses this theme repeatedly.

Synopsis

The film structure loosely follows that of the minuet: four "movements", which are announced by titles: two themes, a duet, and a set of variations.^[1] 1- Chan Kar-fu's (Takeshi Kaneshiro) introduction 2- Yau Muk-yan's (Aaron Kwok) effect on his life 3- Mok Man-Yee's (Kelly Chen) effect on their lives 4- Chan Kar-fu's literary vision of love.^[5] This fourth "movement" (Variations) is a wild fantasy on the previous material, based on the novel written by Kaneshiro's character: The XO Pair.^[2]

Unemployed aspiring writer Yau Muk-yan (Aaron Kwok) moves into the apartment of Chan Kar-fu (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a shy piano tuner. Both will soon fall in love with their new neighbor Mok Man-Yee (Kelly Chen).

Cast includes

Aaron Kwok as Yau Muk-yan
Kelly Chen as Mok Man-Yee
Takeshi Kaneshiro as Chan Kar-fu
Jacky Cheung as Policeman (cameo)
Leslie Cheung as Editor (cameo)
Anita Yuen as Assistant Editor
Josie Ho as Cindy, Yau Muk-yan's former girlfriend
Leo Ku as Client in restaurant (cameo)
Eric Tsang as Building watchman (cameo)
Wei Wei as Mrs. Leung
Yu Wai-Lung as Child X
Yuki Lai as Child O
Jojo Hui as Masked woman

^[6] ^[7]

Filming locations

Hong Kong
Vietnam for the fantasy scenes^[1]

Reception

The film grossed HK$7.8 million in Hong Kong.^[4]

Awards and nominations

18th Hong Kong Film Awards:^[2]
- Nominated - Best Cinematography (Peter Pau)
- Nominated - Best Art Direction (Poon Chi-wai)
- Nominated - Best Costume Design (Ng Lei-lo)
- Nominated - Best Original Score (Chiu Tsang-hei)
1999 Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards
- Won: Film of Merit