Xin buliao qing (C'est la vie, mon chéri) (1994)

Hong Kong filmmaker Derek Yee's highly lauded and sentimental tearjerker swept the 1993 Hong Kong Film Awards and was warmly embraced by audiences due to its well-developed characters and exceptional performances. Anita Yuen stands out as Min, an ebullient young woman who came from a street-singing family and now lives in a broken-down apartment house. Her upstairs neighbor is Kit (Lau Ching-wan), an aspiring songwriter who has just broken up with his fiancée, a successful singer (Carina Lau). Kit knows that his perky downstairs neighbor has the charisma and talent necessary to become a star herself; he is re-energized by the prospect of shepherding her career and begins falling in love with her. Unfortunately, Min's childhood bone cancer -- which had been in complete remission for a decade -- returns and she soon finds her declining health sapping most of her excitement for both life and her career. Kit devotes himself entirely to getting Min back on her feet, setting the stage for the obligatory weepy denouement. Despite its "Disease of the Week" story line, Yee (who also wrote the screenplay) never allows his film to become trite or maudlin, and his strong cast (notably Yuen and Lau, Hong Kong's Best Actress and Actor winners of 1993 for their performances) never overplay the material. Paul Chun and Petrina Fung took home awards in the supporting categories, ably backed up by Carrie Ng, Sylvia Chang, and Jamie Luk. Herman Yau appears in a cameo. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi