A Simple Life Reviews

Driven by the fantastic performances of Andy Lau and Deanie Ip and its authentic writing, A Simple Life is the type of film you pop in to remind yourself that there is hope for the human race.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10

eteran Director Ann Hui paints in delicate strokes, but while this may seem soft he is playing with powerful emotions.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Not since The Diving Bell and the Butterfly earned cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Schindler's List) another Oscar nomination in 2008 has there been such a good film about incapacity.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Compassionate but never sentimental, heartfelt but not tear-jerking and at once very funny and deeply moving.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

[T]he sort of film in which every detail feels unforced but essential.

Full Review

Here is a film with the clarity of fresh stream water, flowing without turmoil to shared destiny. No plot gimmicks. No twists and turns. Just a simple life.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4

It's a gentle, flawlessly observed picture, moving but never sentimental, about getting old, fulfilling familial duties, killing time and being killed by time.

Full Review

In keeping with the title and the heroine, A Simple Life is a straightforward and unassuming gem.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Perturbing truths about old age nestle inside an outwardly sentimental shell - it's a less cosy or placid prospect than it seems.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

It is a quite lovely film.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

A sad and sombre film that uses a plangent piano soundtrack to tug at the heartstrings, but tempers this with a downbeat reality.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Earnest glow and slowly progressing torpor, like a dying nuclear fuel rod.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

A film that will fill you with a sense of hope, and a glimpse into the realities of life in modern Hong Kong.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

This poignant and emotional relationship study between an ageing servant and her employer requires more punch and focus, but is still a tender and heartfelt piece of drama with outstanding lead performances.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Director Hui shows a different side to Hong Kong cinema in a tender drama that's illuminated by the marvellous Ip.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

An exquisite and wise moment of celluloid portraiture.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

Well-acted, deeply human and emotionally resonating.

Full Review | Original Score: 8.95/10

...a compelling yet uneven piece of work.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

Often poignant but leavened with humor.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Hui depicts the passage of time and the poignancies of the past with subtle, elliptical episodes, and the film draws on deep emotions without succumbing to sentimentality.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4