A remake of the classic 1937 Mandarin film Song at Midnight (which itself was heavily based on Phantom of the Opera), Ronny Yu's 1995 picture The Phantom Lover stars Leslie Cheung as the titluar character, and also features him performing several songs. For fans of Cheung's Cantopop output, this is a treat in and of itself. But for those people who aren't into Cantopop, the musical sequences might end up being a chore to sit through.

Cheung stars as Song Danping, an actor and singer who brings Western styles and mannerisms to his performances. This is used to explain why the musical numbers are something more appropriate for a Vegas showroom instead of 1930's Shanghai, but at any rate, Song's style doesn't sit well with the local elders, especially after he defiles the daughter (played by Wu Chien-Lin) of a tycoon who has already promised her hand to the governor's son. Song's theater is set on fire and he is presumed dead, until ten years later, when a new troupe led by Huang Lei comes into town and starts experiencing strange happenings.

There are many positives to be found with The Phantom Lover, most of them due to Peter Pau, who served as both production designer and cinematographer. Even through the faded and muted picture on the Tai Seng DVD, the beauty of the mise-en-scene still fully comes through. There really is no doubt that is is a gorgeous movie to look at. The acting's not bad, either. Some of the actors (such as Roy Szeto, who plays the governor's son) sleepwalk their way through their roles, but the stars, especially Leslie Cheung, do a very good job for the most part.

But no matter how solid the acting is and how beautiful the film looks, in the end, how much enjoyment you are going to get out of The Phantom Lover is directly related to your love (or lack thereof) for Cantopop. Truth be told, even though I respect the talent Cheung and his contemporaries have, Cantopop has never been appealing at all to me, and so when we get the same song (or at least parts of it) repeated about ten times during the film, my patience was beginning to wear thin. On the other hand, if you are into Cantopop, and Leslie Cheung's songs in particular, you're going to find a lot more to like here than this particular grizzled and jaded reviewer.

RATING: 6