Autumn's Tale

An Autumn’s Tale

A doll maker named Jenifer (played by Cherry Chung) travels from Hong Kong to New York for a job. She was picked up from Newark Airport by a crazy taxi driver named Figurehead (or Figgy for short, played by Chow Yun Fat) to take Jenifer to her apartment where he lives in New York near a train line. Jenifer met her old boyfriend with the dolls she made for him, who’s now her ex when Vincent has a girlfriend. One night, there was a gas leak in Jenifer’s room, so Figgy saved her. Jenifer and Figgy hang out and often relate through lunch, giving gifts, and helping each other. Jenifer has a job as babysitter and waitress at her mom’s ex’s restaurant, she studies acting, and a sculpture artist in front of the New York Public Library. One day on a date at the beach, Figgy brings folklore that when a sailor dies, they get reincarnated into a seagull. Then at November 9, Figgy throw a party partly to get closer to Jenifer (despite decorations are plastic pumpkins), but Vincent lightly crashed the party as Jenifer has some conversation that may lead to misunderstanding to Figgy for him to storm out of the party to gamble, smoke, and get drunk while breaking his commitment. Little does Jenifer know that the party was Figgy’s birthday? Will they get back together just like every Romantic Film, or will they be separated with one of them dead?

As romantic comedy goes, it’s standard from all other in the genre with the dating, relationship, and destiny (destiny being the word I drink every time it’s said as much as “faith of the world”). Then again, I’ve haven’t seen a unique romance films I couldn’t predict yet in my life. What stand out are our two main characters. Chow Yung- Fat is seen as comedic, and it’s quite refreshing and interesting to see what a dramatic actor used to be, as well as passionate to his goals. His passion is mostly relatable that after life as a sailor and being alive for 28, he should expect greatness, but reality continues to be a dick by giving him the conflict onto everything such as being yourself for the girlfriend, only to realize that she’s either taken or her ex is having a boomerang relationship. Expectation of what we wanted isn’t going to be set in natural stone, the people and environment will always change it mostly for the worst and rarely for the best. Cherry Chung is likable as she’s adapting from Hong Kong to New York, as she’s a skilled artist and does her best from selling her work to babysitting to a waitress to be paid to keep her rent until the end. It’s close to Lost in Translation in reverse where it’s foreigner in US, had problems adapting. It could be possible that Figgy died off-screen and became a seagull, but it could be any sailor such as Bluto after being punched by Popeye to death after eating a can of spinach. Autumn Tale might be a decent romantic with only the main leads to watch around September or November. October I don’t see much people watching it unless they need a relaxing film from the scary films.