It is 1997, after the handover. Hong-Kong may still be a land of opportunity for mainland Chinese yet for many it remains a place of hardship. For the talented cinemtographer Yu Lik Wai, Love WilI Tear Us Apart may as well be a continuation of Neon Goddesses(1996), except the location shifts from Beijing to Hong Kong and the format, from documentary to fiction. Director Yu focuses on women who come to the city full of hopes only to end up with shattered dreams. In Love Will Tear Us Apart, four people emigrate from the mainland: Ah Ying, who moves to Hong Kong after her boyfriend is executed in the military; Ah Yan, who has lost her son and one of her legs in an accident; Ah Yan′s roommate Ah Jian, who runs a porno videoshop; and finally Ah Chun, the elevator repairman. In each other they find solace, yet it isn′t enough to pull them out of their rut. Their pain and loss is a reflection of the city′s disorder and confusion in the aftermath of the handover. Propaganda films from the mainland and old melodramas run side-by-side on TV, while a mixture of Taiwanese and Hong Kong pop music hit the radios, seemingly representing an identity the viewpoint of mainlanders living in Hong Kong. Interestingly, the objects of earlier Hong Kong films have become their subjects. (Kim Ji-Seok)