No. 7 Cherry Lane

[Far Sun Film Co.]

Director: Yonfan, with animation by Zhang Gang

Release Date: November 20, 2020

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

Synopsis: Set in 1967 Hong Kong, this lush, sophisticated and very grown-up movie centers on an English tutor who falls in love with both his student and her cultured Taiwanese mother.

The Word: “Intellectually intoxicating and stylistically sumptuous, this romantic oddity about the passage of time evokes the grand elegance of a Wong Kar-wai epic infused with mature droplets akin to anime like Belladonna of Sadness or Millennium Actress.” — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times

Director Talk: “I witnessed mass demonstrations, and bombings, experienced the curfews and the fear, and I saw violence and bloodshed. Those were Hong Kong’s colonial days. We knew nothing about human rights and democracy. Looking back, I’m amazed at how nonchalant and lackadaisical I was. Now history is repeating itself, 52 years later. I wonder what today’s young people will think when they reminisce about 2019, many years from now.” —Yonfan

The Word: The movie was a festival favorite in Venice, Toronto, Busan and Tokyo, and has received raves from critics. However, it may be a little too languid for the voters with lower attention spans, spoiled by the fast pace of Pixar and DreamWorks movies.