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***May contain spoilers***I love this movie, cute, lovely, bittersweet, relatable, all rolled into one. I love movies that talks about the reality of loving someone and yet having a dreams and this two conflicts each other and that you have to choose one and regretting at the end. I love the two leads, the acting sre excellent. You can see the transitions as they grow and mature. What makes this a beautiful, is that how the storytelling is just honestly being told. I cried, it is sad, it's painful. God, I feel them, the love in the family is so real!
We really need to constantly remind ourselves that we need to express and demonstrate our love and care to the people we love. This movie just provided a realization that we need to express our love no matter how. The additional scenes of real people saying all kinds of emotions that they cannot tell to their loved ones or lost love, I am just having goosebumps.
Great movie to watch. Soundtracks is excellent especially at the end. Highly recommended.
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****Contains a few Spoilers***Let me just start off by saying this, It made me cry like a baby but I think I would watch it again. It totally gave me 'One Day' movie feels. the one with Anne Hathaway. The storyline was a bit predictable (kinda figured out what was going to happen at the end of the movie) but still beautiful to watch. The cute start, the getting together, and the bittersweet end. I don't think I have ever seen a movie that honestly gives us a pretty accurate description of a relationship like this. The whole, "just because you love each other doesn't mean you're meant to be". you can love someone to bits but sometimes it just doesn't work out. And they did it in a realistic way, there was no childish dramatics. it was honest, real problems that couples go through. God, it killed my feels. The actors played their part so well, I fell in love with them. She was so cute and he was so in love with her. The both matured and grew throughout the film. The whole relationship was so cute and the ending was done perfectly even though it hurt to watch. The music was so good. It wasn't like songs but rather piano to fit the mood. I like it. There are two theme songs for the movie that they played at the end. If you're in for a film that is cute but sad, watch this. I loved it despite crying over it.
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"The world will turn colorless"
*** Contains a few spoilers***Honestly loved it so much. It left me sad and with an immense void in my heart but also satisfied? It's such a beautiful movie.
When Jianqing said "if Ian couldn't find Kelly at the end, then the world will turn colorless" and the next scene is Xiaoxiao putting on earrings for him in a colorless picture. The cinematography of this movie is so detailed and simple, yet mindblowing, I love it.
Also this dialogue:
Jianqing: We have everything in the end.
Xiaoxiao: Just not each other.
Bitch that shit HURTED. HURTED MUCH.
The way they still cared for each other after all those years makes me so sad and it reminded me of this American movie 'Before Sunset' because I watched it only a couple days ago and I was kind of hoping for their romance to develop like Jesse and Celine's but it'd have been wrong to wish for an affair right...? Unless...
The scene of Jianqing's dad letter to Xiaoxiao absolutely wrecked me up, do NOT touch parents being abandoned by their children and expect me not to cry.
I love how this movie's whole plot is surrounded and greatly affected by their poor status, however, poverty is never seen romantically and Jianqing's dad even mentions something like "do you think you can do anything now just because you're rich." What a wise man.
Also, the whole game was a love letter and a confession to the world, how would their lives have been if only he got on the train or if she looked for him after watching his interview about his game...
Anyway, this is probably one of my fav sad romantic movies that i'll rewatch in the future if I'm in the mood to bet sad.
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The story’s tone is that of a sad one, one could argue it’s a bittersweet. And the most moving part of the story is actually of the main male lead’s father. His letter at the end makes this a good story, otherwise, I would down right dislike this story.
What I don’t like about this story is the main male lead claimed he would give her stars from the sky, and pearls from the deep ocean. Yet... he gave up on her almost immediately and got married and have kid? They didn’t break up for longer than 2 yrs, with 1 yr he tried to apologise to her. There was part where he claimed “he doesn’t have the right to be in pain”, and at the end of it, I’m not sure he gets why she left him.
Maybe I sympathise with the female lead so much more that I couldn’t stand the male lead, and that’s why while I enjoyed the movie, think the plot was decent, however the tone was depressing, and the guy literally had no redeeming quality, I couldn’t rewatch it ever, hence the low rewatch value score.
I do get that this story is about the biggest regret in your life, but the dude goes on living in fancy house, a beautiful wife and kid, while she’s alone and all sad, reminiscing about their past love is just uh... not right. I just don’t feel he’s that remorseful? It’s almost turn out to be her biggest regret was to dump him??? Like it’s not, but it felt like it is with how it ends. And some of the messages at the end felt more like gloating than trying to tell the (past) greatest love of your life that you are ok and living well, if it wasn’t for the music, I would think very differently. So here is why I think the music serves its purpose.
Do I recommend this? Well not exactly, while it’s beautiful in many ways, it’s frustrated in many ways, and it’s 2hours long, at 90mins, I was like is this gonna end? But it’s not a bad watch either, so if you want to watch a movie about two young lovebirds struggle and didn’t make it, then be my guest.
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"We have everything in the end." "Just not each other."
This is like the saddest romantic film I've ever seen. I was quite wondering at first why the past was colored and the present was b&w, until it all made sense. Ian and Kelly were the characters in Jian Qing's video game, Ian loved Kelly and the point of the game was to find her. Jian Qing once answered that if Ian wouldn't meet Kelly in the end, it would be colorless.Jian Qing and Xiao Xiao had the best start, making me, a watcher fall in love with them too. They were so inlove with each other, and they were so happy. The world they built was full of happiness and love, but it needed more than just the two. The foundation they started was weak enough, that when reality starts hitting it slowly crumbled. They built fort but they never made it home. I also wondered when did it started to go wrong. Is it when Jian Qing began to become distant? Is it when they moved houses? Is it when Xiao Xiao gave up and turned her back?
Or maybe is it from the start? Instead of lending puzzle pieces to complete each other, they happen to miss the same puzzle piece that none of them can be completed.
For me, I think, they were both Ian from the video game, and Kelly was their selves. The past was colored because they were themselves from finding love from each other and the present were dark because when they lost each other, they found themselves lost. And when they met again, it was b&w, because they can't find their self due to questioned pasts. They tried answering the left "why"s from their past, and had the closure and the proper goodbye. In the end, it started to have colors. Jian Qing and Xiao xiao weren't each other's destination, they were just each other's stop over. They weren't meant to complete each other, but just an instrument to help each other grow.
The whole movie was a bittersweet one. It was painful, it was sad but it was real. Some people are meant to fall in love with each other but not meant to be together, and some are meant to be together but not meant forever. The "what if"s where so painful, but still comes down to being pointless. What's the use of what if, when you can't turn back time?
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it is good this one did not do that as the missed life together is the point.
my favorite scene was the one in the car . i thought there was so much emotion, it really was the best scene.
the other thing i loved was the scenery. the snowy roads and byways were gorgeous. shots on the train...i thought the whole movie was beautifully mad
another great asian movie....i love that i was able to find all these gems on netflix...
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[NO SPOILERS] This movie is a real gem. Each scene is so well written, directed and acted, it seems like real life, but still stylized. There's little bits of unexpected business that just ads to the enjoyment of the film: a little giggle here, and turn of a phrase there, a certain look, etc. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. It reminded me in the tone and pacing of "Unstrung Heroes", another heart-string pulling film directed by an famous actress. Once you get to the end of "Us and Them" you are rewarded with such a bittersweet experience, you'll just sit transfixed for a while. It's that good. Was this review helpful to you?
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Relatable, and depressing with a hint of nostalgia
This movie is one of those slow icepicks aimed right true the heart... A story trying to answer the age old question will two miserable souls become happy when crammed together in a tiny apartment or will the two just become miserable? Do you have to be with the person you love or is it better to let go... How many setbacks are too many set backs, is there a way back in to love? Or is it just better to let it go? And does a break up mean we did not love at all?This is beautifully done with well timed flashbacks, filming angles as well as use of color/lack of color...
The acting in this movie is top, and so is the mood... depressing with a constant feeling of trying to balance between hope and pain.. waiting for the inevitable break up, and to find out what will happen when they reunite. How much of the movie will focus on each etc... Keeping viewers, or at leas me on my toes and with a constant lump in my chest.
There are a few scenes that hit harder than others, reminding me of relationships passed... an experience that may not look so bad but is indeed more painful than most people who just see it can imagine. And I love this movie for making way for that part of being in a relationship.
I also love the female lead, she is very much a human being and extremely relatable. The male lead does seem to lack some communication skills and even if he did remind me of my ex at times, he was not as bad as that guy but did need a lesson or two in communication and anger management.
So what do I say, save this for a day when you can handle darkness... but do not be afraid to watch it, it is one of the better slice of life movies out there.
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How Expectations and Different Goals Affect A Relationship
There aren't very many realistic relationship movies out there. Most are mired down by cliches and melodrama where everything always works out in the end. If that is what you're hoping for with this movie, you'd best move on, for this is one of the best films about relationships that I've seen in recent years.Relationships are work. Period. And the more expectations that two people bring to the table, and the more differing goals that are brought, the more likelihood that the relationship is ultimately doomed.
This is a poignant story of two people who meet on a train, heading home for Chinese New Year. I've lived in China. There is no greater mass migration on the planet than during Chinese New Year. I lived in Shenzhen, a city of 20+ million. The city looked like a ghost town.
Jianqing is a young man living in Beijing. His dream is to create video games. He works at a small kiosk. He doesn't make much money, and his room in his apartment looks more like a metro station...people crammed together and living in bedrooms that look more like cubicles. It's a simple existence that doesn't seem to hold much promise, based upon Jianqing's dreams.
Xiao-Xiao is a young and vibrant woman, full of life, and seems to hop from place to place. Her dream is finding true love. So much so, that she invents stories of boyfriends in order to make her own goal--Jianqing--jealous to the point where she hopes he might come around.
Eventually, Xiao-Xiao pretty much takes the initiative and the two make love. She moves into Jianqing's cramped bedroom. Xiao-Xiao's dream is fulfilled, and she even reminds a frustrated Jianqing that she doesn't care if they live in a box. However, Jianqing firmly believes that Xiao-Xiao can't possibly be happy in their current living situation. In the process of trying to better their living situation, he slowly begins to alienate her, failing to understand that Xiao-Xiao only cares about being with him.
The story is masterfully told by taking us back to 2007 and progressing through the years up to present time. All of the flashbacks are done in color. The present is in black and white. The director is demonstrating a time when dreams were attempting to be realized up to the point where everything is now stale, desolate, and unfulfilled through the black and white landscape of crushed and unrealized dreams. Of course, in the present, after bumping into each other for a final time, they begin to wonder if things could have been different. Based upon how they each saw things, they realize that it couldn't have been. Xiao-Xiao has a bit more wisdom to see the folly than Jianqing.
Jianqing can only focus on--what he feels--his failure to provide for Xiao-Xiao. Xiao-Xiao already knows the futility that he was already everything to her; that he never needed to struggle and fight to make her happy. She was already happy. But, of course, he failed to see it.
Only in the end, when they are finally able to let go, do the vibrant colors begin to fill the landscape, almost as if it were happening in that very moment of their realization and appreciation for what they had...and frankly, still have.
Not only do people's expectation and goals often differ, but people also change as time moves on. Depending upon the couple, these can appear to be insurmountable barrier. And for those who choose to refuse to see what is right in front of them in the other, it too often is just that: an insurmountable barrier.
Most relationships fail due to a lack of communication; to talk things out when it's obvious that things are moving in two different directions, taking each person with them. Perhaps a film like this will inspire folks to look a bit harder at what--and more importantly who--is right in front of them. It's funny and sad how often most people fail to notice.
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an ode to love in all its highs and lows
As another review suggested, this gave a very similar feel to the film One Day, though the themes that surrounded Us and Them felt a little different in contrast.Us and Them offers a very realistic, everyday outlook to a couple living in Beijing. They're unlucky financially and do anything they can to make it, with the usual daydreams and goals of becoming successful in their dreams and rich enough to make the other happy. The eventual development of their romantic love towards one another, although couldn't be expressed in the proper 'slow burn' that they clearly wanted to portray (for the sake of screentime, understandably), their close friendship beforehand felt like I was simply watching a pair of best friends living their lives together. And even in the happiest moments of their relationship to the eventual separation, they were real people with real reactions, thought processes and gestures.
Their corresponding personalities were never outright displayed or expressed in a way to make the audience have an idea of what they are directly - instead we are left to assume through small hints and expressions of personality throughout the film, just like what we would achieve from meeting strangers.
This also contributes to the amazing leading cast. Having this be one of my first Chinese films, I was delighted in how amazing the two main leads were in their respective roles. The cinematography made very interesting choices that contributed to how I absorbed the story. The scene when they share their first kiss (and more) where it pans out to reveal how the rest of their 'neighborhood' is spending their New Years was one of my favorites. It really pushes how their story is one of many.
Overall, this is the story of two people who seem to consider each other their 'greatest love.' And even when that love is over and done with, and life has already moved on for them, their fates always seemed to be intertwined just for that perfect closure. The questions that always arise between us, as the audience, and even between our leads as we watch the story come to a close - the What Ifs and the If Onlys that would prompt their happy ending. We tend to forget that the real happy ending doesn't need to involve the both of them together.
Because for Xiao-xiao and Jian-ping, with a love that allowed them to survive even the hardest parts of their lives, they are reminded of the sacrifices and the effort they made for one another and how none of that went to waste. They pay homage to the good times and the bad times of their journey together, and the permanent impact they placed on each other's lives. And I find such a message so, SO important for those who are undergoing heartbreak or tough breakups after separating with someone you once believed would be your 'endgame'.
The end credits with real people sending messages to perhaps their lost Ian/Kelly truly brought tears to my eyes. As if the story of Us and Them has happened to so many people in this world, of any age, gender or race. It was a good touch that I appreciate.
To find our own 'greatest love', and the uncertainty of whether that love will be with you forever. That's what this film promises and delivers in such a bittersweet yet hopeful tone. Although it definitely had its imperfections, and while the story itself was far from original, the expression of such a plot was perfectly done. I definitely recommend it to those who are looking for a realistic love story.
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