心動 - Tempting Heart

I have almost forgotten about this great chinese movie, one of my favourites of all times, until I watched a chinese documentary film on Sylvia Chang (the scriptwriter, producer and director of this movie) earlier tonight. She also happens to be one of my favourite chinese directors. In fact, I love almost all the movies that she produces.

The story of this movie, 心動 (known as Tempting Heart in english), is about how a pair of young lovers were forced to seperate due to parental objections. They led their seperate lives and had their own marriages but both remained in each other minds for many years. As fate would have it, they bumped into each other again and despite wanting to reunite, several events in life got in their way and they never got back together. In the final scene, the male lead sent a parcel to the female lead. It was box containing many random photographs that he had taken over the years whenever he thought of her. Sounds a little cliche but the story is all about love, pain, life and regrets. A painfully beautiful movie.

Lyrics

有多久沒見你以為你在那裡
原來你就住在我的心底
陪伴著我的呼吸
有多遠的距離以為聞不到你氣息
誰知道你背影這麼長
回頭就看到你

過去讓它過去來不及
從頭喜歡你
白雲纏繞著藍天

如果不能夠永遠走在一起
也至少給我們
懷念的勇氣
擁抱的權利
好讓你明白我心動的痕跡

過去讓它過去 來不及
從頭喜歡你
白雲纏繞著藍天
如果不能夠永遠走在一起
也至少給我們
懷念的勇氣
擁抱的權利
好讓你明白我心動的痕跡

總是想再見你
還試著打探你的消息
原來 你就住在我的身體
守護我的回憶

I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl

Nina Simone (1933 - 2003), another American Jazz Singer that I like. This song is my favourite of hers. I love her distinct voice in this beautiful melody. And the lyrics too. Sometimes we just need a little sugar in our bowl don't we?

Have a fabulous week ahead!

Billie Holiday - The Man I Love

I love good music. I listen to pretty much everything, well, except trance, techno and heavy metal. Give me reggae, new age, soul and jazz anytime. I like reggae when I wanna dance (strange I know - that's me), new age when I'm alone and feel like doing nothing, soul and jazz when I'm chilling with a book and a wine. A couple of years ago, I was obsessed with bossa nova (a type of jazz) until I got sick of listening to "Girl from Ipanema". Nowadays, I prefer contemporay jazz pieces still with a hint of bossa style and are great for chilling out. And on late nights when the 2 boys in my life are sleeping and I'm enjoying peace infront of the computer and surfing the web, I like to listen to classic american jazz.

Amongst all american jazz singers, Billie Holiday got to be my favourite. She came from the same generation as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald, and was often compared with the latter. But I like Billie Holiday for her distinct, jazzy and bluey vocals. That to me represents the classic American jazz from the 30s. Her most iconic song got to be "Summertime" (although she wasn't the first jazz singer to sing that) but my personal favourite is her version of "The Man I Love"that she recorded in the late 30s. Enjoy.

Somewhere In Time

I love a good old movie. Breakfast at Tiffany's, Gone with the Wind and Somewhere in Time are a few of my favourites. The funny thing is, I actually don't enjoy most of the current romance movies and rarely have the patience to watch one over 180 minutes. But there is something nostalgic about old movies that I really like. Perhaps I'm quite an old fashioned at heart.

I can't remember when I first watched Somewhere in Time. I read the original novel Bid Time Return that was written by Richard Matheson in 1975. Five years later, the film Somewhere in Time (adapted from the book) was released. Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour were the lead actor and actress. In a nutshell, the story was about Reeve who was attracted to Seymour when he saw a photo of her at the Grand Hotel and travelled back in time to 1912 to search for her. They fell in love of course. A little corny but I highly recommend everyone to go watch the movie. And how can anyone not like the theme song written by John Barry?