The Beatles' once wrote a song called "There's A Place" that says, "There's a place, / Where I can go / When I feel low, / When I feel blue...". There are always those places we go when we are sad, places where we can look for a new life, try new things, and meet new people. That is what Somewhere Only We Know is about. It's about finding a place to become new, to build new meaning to one's life and to one's love.
The story is simple, but surprisingly compelling. We see Jin Tian's (Wang Likun) journey to a place, to Prague. At first, it is just a beautiful city meant to help her heal; it's a city that her only family member once lived. Later, though, and interwoven with her own love story, Prague becomes that place of being and becoming a new person. What I enjoyed most is how interwoven Jin Tian and Ze Yang's story was with Lan Xin and Dr. Novak's. The links and flashbacks gave a beautiful, yet sorrowful meaning to the idea of having a place and of being in love.
Despite a group of young, fairly inexperienced actors, Somewhere Only We Know featured bright moments. The chemistry between Wang Likun (Jin Tian) and Wu Yi Fan (Ze Yang) was sweet; their interactions with Sophia (Ni Ni) were definite highlights of the film. Moreover, they showed an awkwardness that fit well with two young people in love. Plus, the movie showcased Wu Yi Fan's ability to be a "cold guy," a nice guy, a sweet guy, and best of all, a silly guy. Xu Jinglei took a major risk, and I believe it paid off. Last but not least, Xu Jinglei was awesome herself as the young Lan Xin. She gave off a grace and beauty that brought me to tears at its sincerity.
I loved the music in the film! From traditional Czech music to Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" to Wu Yi Fan's "There Is A Place," the music captured that sweetness of new love, of old love, of lost love, and of found love.
Probably my only complaint with the movie lies in it's use of English instead of Czech when there are longer conversations with non-Chinese characters (Dr. Novak, especially). I don't hate the choice necessarily, but I would have liked there to be more Czech involved in the film.
Of course I'm going to rewatch this again and again. It's sweet, funny, yet also insightful. On a fangirl note, why wouldn't I watch it again?
Overall, I give Somewhere Only We Know a 10 because I enjoyed the film so much. I laughed and cried (I dabbed tears at several points during the film), and I thoroughly felt the love between the characters. I also enjoyed seeing the beauty of Prague; I really, really want to visit it now. It gave a wonderful environment and air to encase the beautiful stories within the film. The film made me want to find my own place as well.
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