Johnnie To shifts once again from action terrain to romantic drama in this story of a famous actor hiding out in a remote mountain lodge after being jilted at the altar. Michael Yuan (superstar Louis Koo) has landed unceremoniously in the Himalayas at the Deep Woods Hotel, where he arrives drunk and short of breath. Looked after by the lodge’s owner Sue and her star-struck helpers Teeny and Beauty, he returns to health and starts assisting with simple tasks around the hotel—until his manager and the Hong Kong film industry find him and come calling. As the story develops, tensions of Michael’s life as a movie star and Sue’s own history involving a missing husband conflict with their growing attachment for one another. Fluidly integrating comic moments into the central love story, Romancing in Thin Air exhibits once again the multivalent talents of Mr. To.


Written by Wai Ka-fai, Yau Nai-hoi, Ryker Chan, Jevons Au. Photographed by Cheng Siu-keung. With Louis Koo, Sammi Cheng, Li Guangjie, Gao Yuanyuan. (114 min. In Cantonese and Mandarin with subtitles, Media Asia)