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Very best movie i ever watch

So much average

People are voting emotionally.

Don't Believe the Hype

The literal meaning of its original Chinese title is "the day and night of Tin Shui Wai", Tin Shui Wai is a northwestern area of Hong Kong and is noted for its public housing estates, where mostly low-income families inhibit, Ann Hui's heartfelt picture centers on a single mother Mrs. Cheung (Paw) and her teenage son Ka-on (Leung), through their kitchen-sink daily life, it cogently reflects our modern society's interpersonal relations with spontaneous casualness and certainly Hui's best work I've ever watched (I have yet to see A SIMPLE LIFE 2011)! The film runs effortlessly to rotate around Cheung and Ka-on's quotidian doings, Cheung works in a supermarket and Ka-on idles at their boxy apartment since it is summer vacation. Granny Leung Foon (Lai-wan Chan), a new neighbor who lost her daughter recently and her son-in-law remarried, Leung Foon's solitary life is singled out naturally through her entry scenes (buy a paltry portion of beef for herself, the meat vendor even fastidiously complains one of her coins is black and demands a swap), records more closely to her meals (the same beef fried with cabbage being consumed in both lunch and dinner), the artistry is all in the details. Leung Foon is typically protective and penny-pinching, but her heart will gradually open to Cheung and Ka- on, since a near neighbor is better than a distant cousin, among them, a sensitive surrogate family bond is developing and culminating after a tearjerking talking heart to heart on a bus back from a fruitless attempt to visit Foon's grandson. Meanwhile, the backstory of Cheung and the tacit alienation between Cheung and her mother, her well-off brothers are all steadily unraveling, Cheung is a woman full of pride, she can undertake hardships, she never solicit any remuneration for bringing up two brothers, but her mother thinks it is her tomfoolery to struggle in poverty, this creates a knot between them, but family is always family, there is no grudges among them, Cheung's swallow nest congee betokens that tellingly. Hee Ching Paw and Lai-wan Chan are pitch perfect in their lifelike performances (which incredibly counters their theatrical training), newcomer Chun-lung Leung is also a force of nature, here is a young boy without any rebellious traits (no gamble, no girlfriend problem, no drug abuse, no religious hindrance), his upbringing is the most laudable feat and yet Hui achieves that by no hyperbole at all. If you are a Hong Kong cinema connoisseur, you will be thrilled to see a cameo from a comely Idy Chan (15 years after her retirement from the screen).Ann Hui is a tower of strength in current HK cinema scenery, she is less internationally- recognized than Johnny To, but her cannon is so rich and diverse and her unique mastery of humanistic care should enlist her name among the most overlooked directors of all time!

If you want to watch movies about special effects, explosives here & there or whatever, go rent Ironman or Transformers, this is Ann Hui's The Way We Are, some of you may complain of boredom, with the lack of pace in the story flow, I didn't, I wept.What amazes me the most is it's simplicity, their daily lives, activities, family problems, those things that you might encounter everyday, & how to cherish them. You don't need to be an alien to become interested in this movie, if you feel bored, then this movie is definitely not for you.I praise Ann's bravery in doing a film about our problems in life, especially in families, & she made me realize there is so much things in life than just fancy, branded goods & not to become enslaved by them.

I agree this is not a run of mill Hong Kong movie, it was quite well made BUT who wants to watch a movie as boring as this??? The movie line is about life in a typical housing estate in Hong Kong, of not outstanding people leading their normal ordinary lives. Its like a documentary, "fly on the ceiling" type of docu-drama, the problem is this... nothing much happened, just ordinary lives. I am sure if I were a Martian coming to study human beings in Hong Kong, this might be interesting, alas I am not. My be when this is broadcast to space someday some aliens might find it useful to see how we live. But I am sorry Miss Director, this movie, if you can call it a movie, didn't work for me.

Tagline: An excellent film about the basics of human beings… Review by Neo: Sometimes, a film does not need to do much, nor does it require something extraordinarily to happen and it can still be a film that can relate, touch and affect one life. While, the usually dependable Ann Hui does not create a masterpiece, but it is probably safe to say that The Way We Are is very much a success story. After the bleakness shown in the city of sadness "Tin Shui Wai" with likes of Besieged City, the little Hong Kong city within borders of the mainland is filled with negative press, distinguishing of hopes and pure darkness. Here, director Hui is smart, by going back to the basics of filming, the very essence of human lives. The method taken is by filming a week or two in life of ordinary people. While it may seems that the film aren't doing much, not going anywhere, the film still somehow leaves the audience wanting more and leaving the credits with a glimpse of hope within the shambles.Casting a ballet of untried actors in the likes of Bau Hei-Jing as the happy-go-lucky mother who works hard day and night to supporting her teenage son (Juno Leung Chun Lung) as a Duran fruit cutter and packer in the area's Welcome Supermarket. Life is not easy, in fact, it's difficult, but yet, Bau remains cheerful, hopeful and most important of all she is content of herself. On the other hand, we have her son, a reclusive young boy who prefers staying at home than going out. Then there are people who they bum into within their lives like the lonely grandmother living close by, or the random relatives who are much better off than they are. Not exactly a movie about the plot line or clever and intriguing premises, rather it is about the little things that happen in our real lives.What makes the film work is that Ann Hui is very much a director who looks at human emotions, and the very fact that she does not create or fabricate emotions to affect the audience, but rather creates real emotions about the simple aspects of humanity and the happening. The casting of Bau is top notch, as she is natural enough for the audience to relate towards. Her optimistic nature, despite all that she has gone through makes her extremely human and ultimately realistic. Likewise, as her son, Juno Leung steps in with a good debut performance. In no situation does Leung tries to be acting, but instead remains real and without a moment of laughable overacting. Other supporting actors, such as the old granny, repeatedly making the same dish, further emphasis what happens when you get older and basically how people lives.The Way We Are, is unlikely to splash any fire into Hong Kong cinema and nor does it attempt to. What Ann Hui is trying to show is that people in Tin Shui Wai are basically human and like all humans, we all need to eat, work and survive. There are little moments of happiness, sorrow, boredom, neutral and ultimately it is there basic human feelings that make this film works. Sometimes, criticizing something may well create some controversial, but at the end of the day, it remains rather subjective and opinionated. What Ann Hui is able to do, is at its very best being able to show something that seem more objective and somehow able to make the audience feel as though they are experiencing the experience firsthand. All in all, The Way We Are succeeds by showing the basic needs of humanity and ultimately, it is a day of reflection of our lives … (Neo 2009) I rate it 9/10www.thehkneo.com