Hong Kong pop king Andy Lau has been fully occupied from earlier this month with the shooting of All about Love, a romance starring Lau, Charlie Yeung and Charlene Choi. Lau has invested HK$20 million (US$2.6 million) in the making of the film, which is expected to be a moving vivid depiction of people’s inner feelings.

Lau plays two roles in the film — a doctor and a hairdresser. While the two roles are very different in terms of personality, both are said to give audiences a taste of the bitterness of love when the characters’ romances come into conflict with cruel reality.

The doctor, an upstanding male figure, loses his wife in an accident and learns to treasure what he has left. The hairdresser, a selfish and short-tempered character, gets bored with what he sees as the tedious love of married life and finally leaves his wife.

Lau decided to shoot the film after sensing there was shortage of good cinematic love stories. "I have not seen a good love story for years," he remarked. "The last one I watched was Yee Tung-shing's C' est la Vie, Mon Cherie in 1994. I want to make one like that."

Lau’s HK$20 million investment does not include any payment for himself, as he acts for free. Although he is thought to be the right person to act the two roles in the film, Lau confessed that he did not invite other actors for the sake of saving money.

Despite forking out such a large sum, Lau said he never thought of earning money from the film. "I made a calculation and understood that I might lose a maximum of HK$4 million all in. I’m prepared for the loss and it will not affect my life," he said.

According to Lau, female audiences should learn from the film that there were no perfect men in the world. Every man is selfish to some extent and hopes to keep his privacy. Women should respect their husbands or boyfriends, said Lau.

Charlie Yeung and Charlene Choi, who play the wives of the doctor and hairdresser, said they were honored to appear with Lau, who they regard as their idol.

Both noted how they were impressed and encouraged by Lau’s hard work. "He is my example," Yeung said. "He can work for 18 hours for filming and then go to the TV station for programming. I am very stimulated by his example."

Screening of "All about Love" has been scheduled for mid October.

(Shenzhen Daily July 28, 2005)