With Director Yonfan: A Cinematic Dream Fulfilled, A Tribute to the Golden Years
Director Yonfan, a longtime friend of Beijing International Film Festival, is back. This time, he returns to Beijing for the third time to present the newly 4K-restored My Last Romance.
Compared with the 2K version of Last Romance screened in the “Retrospective” section of the “Beijing Film Panorama” in 2023, this screening offers a comprehensive upgrade in audiovisual quality. Previously, director Yonfan had turned down invitations for 4K screenings from multiple domestic film festivals, and reserved the film's premiere in the Chinese mainland for BJIFF.
Director Yonfan has always kept Beijing audiences and BJIFF film lovers close to his heart. The warm and kind director designed a new poster specifically for this screening, which will be distributed to attending fans as a collectible souvenir. Director Yonfan will also bring his book LIU JIN (Oxford University Press) to give to lucky audience members. There will be many special gifts. Do not miss this opportunity!
Last Romance is one of the representative works from the early stage of Yonfan’s directing career. After Lost Romance, in 1988, Yonfan sold the ink-and-brush painting Peach Blossom Spring by the Chinese painting master Zhang Daqian to self-finance the film adaptation of Yi Shu’s novel The Golden Years, bringing the story to the big screen. This adaptation received recognition and praise from Yi Shu. The film’s theme song, also titled Last Romance, is deeply moving. The Cantonese version is performed by Sally Yeh and the Mandarin version is sung by Jenny Tseng. The two versions complement each other beautifully and remain widely sung to this day.
Starring Maggie Cheung, Cherie Chung, and Shingo Tsurumi, the film tells a touching story of friendship and personal growth between two female friends, Jiang Nansun and Zhu Suosuo, whose lives mirror each other in many ways. Based on the original novel, director Yonfan added the male character Jiaming, creating a complex love triangle that further complicates the bond between the two heroines. Yet the dramatic competition between the two heroines is not purely about love. Despite the ups and downs, the friendship between Jiang Nansun and Zhu Suosuo remains generous and honest, and profoundly touching.
The historical background is an indispensable part of Yonfan’s films. The film is set during Hong Kong’s economic boom and social transformation in the 1970s and 1980s - a time that deeply shapes the character’s life and future.
The characters played by Maggie Cheung and Cherie Chung represent two contrasting female figures - one rational and independent, the other emotional and sophisticated - yet they deeply cherish and accept each other. As early as the 1980s, director Yonfan was already deeply attuned to women’s fight for autonomy and the real-life obstacles they faced. The experiences of Jiang Nansun and Zhu Suosuo vividly reflect the hesitation and struggle of women between traditional and modern values.
In terms of visual style, director Yonfan's works have always been known for their aestheticism. In the film, whether it is the warm-toned shots that symbolize the beauty of youth, or the cold-toned shots that reflect the dilemmas of life and love, Yonfan, with his background in photography, consistently offers the audience a visually rich and delightful experience.
The golden rain glittering as the two heroines meet at the school gate, the blue bedroom with pale moonlight shining through the window, and the indoor scene where Jiang Nansun opens up to her subordinate who admires her have all become classic moments in the hearts of film lovers.
In addition, director Yonfan has always had a refined sense of fashion, which was masterfully presented in Last Romance through the two superstars Maggie Cheung and Cherie Chung. As a successful fashion designer, Jiang Nansun, played by Maggie Cheung, turns the ordinary streets of Hong Kong and the drab office buildings into urban fashion runways the moment she appears. Through this newly restored 4K version, audiences will experience the unparalleled beauty of nostalgia, revealed in every detail from costumes to home décor.
“The golden years have slipped away. Wishing the laughter were here again. In the golden light, we met in the rain. But all at once, we parted again.” The lyrics written by director Yonfan for the film's soundtrack perfectly capture the theme of Last Romance: people come and go, they pause, then move on, but it is the golden years that makes us linger, and the love is stronger than gold.
It is worth mentioning that director Yonfan once appeared as an extra in Robert Altman’s M*A*S*H. The film will be screened in the “Retrospective” section of this year’s “Beijing Film Panorama”. According to director Yonfan, this was his first film shot in Hollywood, and he also went to Cannes with the film. Aren’t these, in a way, director Yonfan’s golden years? Feel free to spot director Yonfan in the film and uncover this Easter egg!
Yonfan in M*A*S*H
Let us pay tribute to the golden years together at the BJIFF.
Trailer of Last Romance