Watch Comrades, Almost a Love Story For Free

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

"Comrades, Almost a Love Story" is one of my all-time favorite movies, of any genre. It is hard to express just how wonderful and moving this romance is. Enough to touch even the most jaded and cynical of hearts."Comrades" swept award after award upon its Hong Kong release. For example, see the list for the Hong Kong Film Awards: Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Director (Peter Chan), Best Actress (Maggie Cheung), Best Supporting Actor (Eric Tsang). Plus Best Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume & Make-up Design, and Score.The story covers a 10-year span. In 1986, Li Jun (played by Leon Lai) arrives in Hong Kong right off the proverbial turnip truck. He's a Mainlander from some rural community up north. He has come to Hong Kong to make some money in order to eventually bring his fiancée down and get married. This task is made difficult because he is rather naive and more importantly, doesn't speak a word of Cantonese. His best hope is to work menial jobs until he can learn the language and better his circumstances.One day he goes into a McDonald's to pantomime his way into ordering a hamburger. The cashier, Li Qiao (Maggie Cheung), is arrogantly frustrated with his inability to speak Cantonese and tells him he'd better get with the program because in the hustling capitalism of Hong Kong, people like him don't stand much of a chance. He is drawn to her because she can speak to him in Mandarin and she is very cute. "Are you from the Mainland, too?" he asks. "Of course not!" she says. (It's hard to move up in HK with that stigma attached.) Anyway, they end up spending time together. She steers him toward an English language class. Out of friendship? Well, not really, because she gets a cut ($$) for every Mainlander she delivers. She also has him running errands and such for her.They grow closer. At one point she confesses that she too is from the Mainland (but from nearby Guangzhou Province, not from up north hicksville). He replies "I've pretty much known that all along." "They why did you let me take advantage of you?" "I needed a friend and you're the only one I have." They become lovers of convenience and proximity. He still loves his fiancée and sends her letters, but she is distant and Li Qiao is near.So far, this is the first half hour of the film. How it plays out from here is the magic of this movie. The backdrop of the next 10 years is the ever-changing Hong Kong as it prepares for the 1997 handover. Fortunes made, fortunes lost. Li Qiao and Li Jun go their separate ways, but find themselves back in each other's lives from time to time. She meets someone else and he ends up marrying his fiancée. But still their feelings for each other can never be suppressed entirely.I hope I have not made this seem like a typical boy-meets-girl romance. It is so much more than that, and yet without all the trappings you might expect from a big-budget Hollywood film. There are no wisecracking sidekicks, no cute kids making fools out of the adults, no slapsticky miscommunications. Just these two wonderfully engaging people and the lives they lead and the difficult choices they make.I know I am a romantic softie. A number of movies cause my eyes to get all misty. I've seen "Comrades" at least 6 times and I still get leaky. I know what happens, I know how it ends – there are no plot surprises. Yet every time I watch it I can't help but be absorbed by the acting, the pacing, and the emotional impact of the story of these two people.

After i watch this movie, i have many beautiful feeling and just want to cry. it is a really warm and genuinely love stories with wonderful music. The performance of each character is extremely appropriate for their situation. I will recommend it to my friends, because it likes Columbus found a new continent,and i find a movie with a well cinematography.I will not repeat the plot again, everybody would see what is the excellent point. but here i will figure out what is true love from it. the true love is the girl or boy you want but you can be with him or her for a long time, even though you can not be together just like the protagonists how they love each other.this film have too much coincidence....need to be act more nature...anyway i love it

This brilliant love epic spans 10 years and traces the star-crossed relationship between two Chinese immigrants who are mysteriously drawn to each other and find comfort in each other's experiences. Though certain coincidences are perhaps unrealistic at first glimpse, the scriptwriters handle it extremely well, embedding them in a believable situation. The direction is flawless, the casting is perfect. Leon's innocent face is exquisite and Maggie's strength and determination deem her a likable heroine. Perhaps slow for non-romantics, this movie paints a beautiful portrait of ideal love, one which surpasses time and place and confirms the ideal belief that certain things are meant to happen in our life. This movie addresses many issues at a level yet unreached by Hollywood and it can really teach westerners a lesson on how to bring out the essence of true love.

This movie is a classic. Maggie Cheung, in what I consider her best work, is simply brilliant as the young Chinese woman who emigrates to Hong Kong in search of a better life. While it is a classic love story, Peter Chan has done a fantastic job of making it extremely fresh and captivating. The script is very well-written, and the rest of the cast and crew perform admirably. But it is Maggie who steals the show, and for this role she deservedly won Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards.