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“Tian Mi Mi” | |
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Single by Teresa Teng | |
from the album Your Sweet Smile | |
Released | November 1979 |
Genre | Mandopop |
Songwriter(s) | Dasimah Zhuang Nu |
“Tian Mi Mi” (Chinese: 甜蜜蜜; pinyin: Tián Mì Mì; literally “very sweet”) is a 1979 Mandarin Chinese song by Teresa Teng. The lyrics were written by Zhuang Nu. The music was adapted from a 1940s gambang kromong about sampan boats called “Dayung Sampan” by the pasindhèn Dasimah.
The Peranakan Music – Dayung Sampan
The film Tian mi mi (Comrades: Almost a Love Story) is named after and features the Teresa Teng song.
Recording and versions
In 1978, while on tour in Southeast Asia, Teng produced an Indonesian-language cover of “Dayung Sampan”, a popular song in Indonesia and Singapore. In 1979, she was arrested in Japan and deported to British Hong Kong for using an Indonesian passport, which Japan found had been obtained from the Indonesian embassy in Hong Kong under suspicious circumstances. Fearing punishment in Taiwan, which was under an autocratic government at the time, for using an Indonesian passport, unable to return to Japan, and unable to stay permanently in Hong Kong, she went to the United States and became a student at the University of Southern California. To fulfill her contractual obligation, she composed a Chinese cover of “Dayung Sampan” while studying, which became Tian mi mi. Zhuang Nu (莊奴, 1922–2016), a Taiwanese songwriter, wrote the lyrics in roughly five minutes after being told he was writing for Teresa Teng.
Although the song is indelibly associated with Teresa Teng, it has been recorded by many artists.
Juliana Jean – I’m Still Loving You ( Tian Mi Mi )
Tian Mi Mi (cover) by William & Friends
How Sweet It Is – Tian Mi Mi 甜蜜蜜 (Pianist – Jimmy Chan)
Tian Mimi by Leon Lai
甜蜜蜜(첨밀밀/Tian mimi) – 조아람 전자바이올린 연주
Tian Mi Mi 甜蜜蜜 flute
Tian Mi Mi – 甜蜜蜜 | Cover By Tina Toon
Luhan version
“Tian Mi Mi (Sweet As Honey)” | |
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Single by Luhan | |
from the album Comrades: Almost a Love Story OST | |
Released | 3 February 2015 |
Recorded | 2015 |
Genre | Mandopop |
Length | 4:03 |
Songwriter(s) | Dasimah Zhuang Nu |
Chinese singer and actor Luhan recorded the song for the soundtrack of the 2015 mainland Chinese release of the 1996 film Comrades: Almost a Love Story. In January 2015, it was announced that Luhan would be singing the theme song for the film’s release in China, according to Chinese media outlet Sina. The movie, directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Peter Chan, was originally released in 1996. Due to the political tension between Hong Kong and mainland China, however, it took 19 years for the film to be approved for release in China. A member of the production team explained, “Peter Chan asked [Chinese musician] Dou Feng to arrange for the recording of a new version of the theme song, and requested that Luhan sing for the film’s soundtrack.” Director Peter Chan is said to have asked Luhan to participate due to his gentle and clear voice, as he felt it would be effective in expressing the emotions of the song. The song was officially released on 3 February 2015.
A teaser video was released on 2 February 2015. The music video was released two days later.
Comrades: Almost a Love Story, or Tianmimi, 1996 Hong Kong film
By http://www.movieposterdb.com/poster/dc580ad2, Fair use, Link
Comrades: Almost a Love Story 甜蜜蜜 | |
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Film poster | |
Directed by | Peter Chan |
Written by | Ivy Ho |
Produced by | Peter Chan |
Starring | Maggie Cheung Leon Lai |
Cinematography | Jingle Ma |
Edited by | Chan Ki-hop Kwong Chi-Leung |
Music by | Chiu Jun-Fun Chiu Tsang-Hei |
Production companies | Golden Movies International United Filmakers Organization |
Distributed by | Golden Harvest |
Release date | 2 November 1996 |
Country | Hong Kong |
Language | Cantonese |
Comrades: Almost a Love Story (Chinese: 甜蜜蜜; pinyin: tián mì mì; lit. ‘very sweet’) is a 1996 Hong Kong film starring Maggie Cheung, Leon Lai, Eric Tsang, and Kristy Yang. It was directed by Peter Chan. The title refers to “Tian Mi Mi“, a song by Teresa Teng whose songs are featured in the film. It was filmed on location in Hong Kong and New York City. Leon Lai later commented in 1997 that the story of Li Xiao Jun is somewhat a description of his own life.
Plot
The film, spanning years, centres on two Chinese mainlanders who migrate to Hong Kong to make a living, but end up falling in love. Leon Lai plays a naive Northerner, Li Xiao-Jun (T: 黎小軍, S: 黎小军), and Maggie Cheung plays an opportunist/entrepreneur and Cantonese speaker from Guangzhou, Li Qiao (T: 李 翹, S: 李 翘), who takes advantage of mainlanders like herself for financial gains. The loneliness of living in the big city inevitably brings the two into a passionate love affair. But their different ambitions (Li Xiao-Jun wants to bring his fiancé to Hong Kong; Li Qiao wants to get rich) mean that they are unable to be together. Eventually, Li Xiao-Jun marries his fiancée, Fang Xiaoting (方小婷) (Yang) in Hong Kong and Li Qiao winds up in a relationship with a mob boss named Ouyang Pao (T: 歐陽豹, S: 欧阳豹, P: Ōuyáng Bào) (Tsang). Li Qiao also becomes a successful entrepreneur, achieving her Hong Kong dream. Despite their seemingly separate lives, however, they are still in love and they have one final tryst in the room they used to share before they are separated again.
Burdened by guilt and his love for Li Qiao, Xiao-Jun confesses to his wife that he has not been faithful. He then leaves Hong Kong, and becomes a cook in the United States. Pao, chased by the Hong Kong police, escapes with Li Qiao to the U.S. as illegal immigrants. After almost 10 years, Xiao-Jun and Li Qiao meet again as lonely immigrants in the U.S. (after the latter gets her green card). By then, both of them have already been freed from their previous partners – Xiao-Jun left his wife, and Pao is killed in a mugging in the U.S. The film ends with Xiao-Jun and Li Qiao fatefully meeting each other in front of an electronic store that has a display television playing a music video by Teresa Teng, after news of the singer’s death had broken. It is revealed that the two had sat back to back on their first train ride to Hong Kong.
Production
The Chinese title of the film, ‘Tian Mi Mi’, comes from a song of the same name by Teresa Teng, which is famous both in mainland China and among the overseas Chinese community. The movie displays love of the famous singer who died a year before the film was released; the film is considered a love poem in memory of Teresa Teng. Her music is featured prominently throughout the film, and Teresa Teng herself is an important subplot for the movie. Leon Lai sings the title song for the ending credits. In a cameo performance, Christopher Doyle, the internationally known cinematographer famous for his collaboration with Wong Kar-wai, plays an English teacher.
Release
Comrades: Almost a Love Story was released in Hong Kong on 2 November 1996. The film grossed a total of HK$15,557,580 on its initial theatrical run in Hong Kong.
The film was screened theatrically for the first time in nearly a decade at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in 2012 with a new 35 mm print supervised by director Peter Chan. The film will be shown at the 70th Venice International Film Festival in 2013.
Initially the Mainland Chinese government put restrictions on the film, but they were lifted in 2015. As part of the Mainland Chinese release, Luhan recorded a new version of the song “Tian Mi Mi”. Hua Hsu of The New Yorker states that the reasons why the film was restricted were “slight, couched in minor differences of speech and habit” and that “even the most ideological viewer would be hard pressed to interpret this as an aggressively political film.”
Reception
The film was very well received in Hong Kong and Taiwan, winning best picture, director, and actress for the Hong Kong Film Awards, among other wins. Maggie Cheung’s performance also won general acclaim. The movie was voted #11 of the Greatest Chinese Films of all time by the Chinese Movie Database and #28 of the 100 Greatest Chinese Films by the Hong Kong Film Awards. It is also listed in the 100 Greatest Chinese Films of the 20th Century by Asia Weekly Magazine.
In 2011, the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival listed Comrades: Almost a Love Story at number 16 in their list of “100 Greatest Chinese-Language Films”. The majority of the voters originated from Taiwan, and included film scholars, festival programmers, film directors, actors and producers.
Awards and nominations
Awards
23rd Seattle International Film Festival
- Best Film (Golden Space Needle)
- Best Picture
- Best Director – Peter Chan Ho-Sun
- Best Actress – Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk
- Best Supporting Actor – Eric Tsang Chi-Wai
- Best Screenplay – Ivy Ho
- Best Cinematography – Jingle Ma Chor-Sing
- Best Art Direction – Hai Chung-Man
- Best Costume Design – Ng Lei-Lo
- Best Original Music Score – Chui Jun-Fun
Nominations
- Best Actor – Leon Lai
- Best Newcomer – Kristy Yang
- Best Picture
- Best Actress
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