Imagine a Hong Kong that is Mandarin rather than Cantonese-speaking, including in the legal courts as well as offices and homes. Granted it’s not like that hasn’t been done before by local filmmakers, notably those who worked in the middle of the 20th century and produced cinematic gems like MP&GI (later Cathay)’s The Wild, Wild Rose (1960) and the Shaw Brothers’ Hong Kong Nocturne (1967).

Still, ever since The House of 72 Tenants (1973) brought about a Cantonese cinema revival in a big way, it has been close to unheard of for the Fragrant Harbour to be depicted in movies as other than the province of Cantonese speakers that it is in reality. Moreover, even if one were to set aside the issue of its unconventional choice of language, the latest cinematic offering from Milkyway Image doyen Johnnie To turns out to be filled with more than its fair share of problematic elements, many of which do much to detract from the melodramatic tale of the love between a young woman called Gia (Li Bing Bing) and Tung (Vic Chou), her boyfriend at university, which continues even after his death in a traffic accident very early on in the movie.

Linger has been billed as a supernatural romantic drama starring Taiwanese idol Chou (of super popular boy band F4) and Mainland Chinese singer-actress Li. But even though the film ostensibly centres on their characters, its other storylines also strongly vie for the attention of viewers. On a related note: while Chou and, particularly, Li do get a lot more screen time than the movie’s other cast members, Yao Yung (in his role as Tung’s estranged father) and Wong You Nam (as Wu, an often irksome individual who nonetheless manages to establish emotional connections with Tung’s father and Gia) end up making more of a mark than its two leads.

Those who are not fans of Chou and Li might well easily ascribe this to the youthful-looking singer-thespians not having the necessary gravitas to make the most of the roles written for them by respected scriptwriter Ivy Ho (Comrades, Almost a Love Story; July Rhapsody). But even while I have to admit to not being particularly convinced of their acting abilities (nor do they display much chemistry as a couple), it doesn’t seem fair to blame them for all of this movie’s woes.

Linger happens to be director To’s first romantic outing since the tired-feeling Yesterday Once More (2004) and what may well be his very first film in other than the Fragrant Harbour’s real-life majority language. And either he’s out of practice – as far as making romances, as opposed to movies per se – or his heart was not in it because, in all honesty, there isn’t all that much in the film that feels like a bona fide, never mind quality, Johnnie To work.

Indeed, one of the very few things about Linger I would associate with its director is the overly domineering musical score that brings to mind his earlier films, like the fire-fighter drama, Lifeline (1997), made before the auteur became a genuine master in his choice of musical volume and compositions. On the other hand, even while it is true that a place remaina in this movie’s cast for Milkyway Image regular Lam Suet as Gia’s dad, and Maggie Siu (PTU; Eye in the Sky) also shows up as Gia’s lawyer boss, this still doesn’t take away from Linger generally neither looking nor feeling all that much like what many of us have come to expect of a truly representative work from that eminent production company.

Yvonne Teh