Mei-hsiang (Sylvia Chang), the widow of Hong Kong neon artist Bill (Simon Yam), strikes up a friendship with her late husband’s apprentice (Henick Chou); together they decide to fulfil Bill’s last wish and renovate one of his favourite neon signs. But they lack the skill to work with the delicate glass tubes, and they don’t know for certain which sign he had in mind.
This Cantonese-language drama is a mainstream Chinese production, and as such, operates at a sentimental register that arthouse audiences might find cloying. Still, it looks terrific – a nostalgic celebration of the illuminated streetscapes of Hong Kong past. Handsome flashbacks to the 1960s – the early years of Bill and Mei-hsiang’s courtship – are juxtaposed against numerous shots of puddles full of splinters of reflected light. The neon hues are so saturated, so rich, you almost want to swim in them.
