THE Chinese soaper “Beauty Remains” is so beautifully filmed (as if through a gauze curtain), it is especially sad that the script doesn’t measure up.
The second feature by Ann Hu is set in 1948 China and tells the weepy story of a love triangle. It involves poor schoolgirl Fei (Zhou Xun), product of a tryst between a rich businessman and a maid; Fei’s wealthy half-sister, Ying (Vivian Wu); and a sleazy casino owner, Huang (Wang Zhi Wen).
The old man dies, and Fei is invited back to the family homestead, from which she had been previously banned. No, Ying hasn’t developed a conscience; she’s just meeting one of the requirements of her inheritance. Huang is engaged to Ying, but he’s immediately smitten by Fei, a sweet young thing in a school uniform.
Except for the lenswork by Scott Kevan (whose other movies include the slasher-fest “Cabin Fever”!), “Beauty Remains” follows timeworn melodramatic dictates. Some of the blame must go to the rather odd writing process: The script was done in English, then translated into Mandarin. Perhaps something was lost in translation.
BEAUTY REMAINS * 1/2
In Mandarin, with English subtitles. Running time: 87 minutes. Not rated (mature theme). At the Imaginasian and the Cinema Village.