| Anna Magdalena | |
| Director: | Yee Chung-Man |
| Producer: | Claudie Chung |
| Starring: | Aaron Kwok Kelly Chen Takeshi Kaneshiro |
| Music: | Chiu Tsang-hei[1] [2] |
| Cinematography: | Peter Pau |
| Editing: | Maurice Lee |
| Studio: | Golden Harvest[3] United Filmmakers Organization (UFO) |
| Distributor: | Golden Harvest |
| Runtime: | 98 minutes[4] |
| Country: | Hong Kong |
| Language: | Cantonese |
| Gross: | HK$7,805,160 |
Anna Magdalena is a 1998 Hong Kong romantic fantasy comedy film starring Aaron Kwok, Kelly Chen and Takeshi Kaneshiro. It was the directorial debut of production designer Yee Chung-Man.
The title refers to the keyboard piece Minuet in G Major believed to have been written by Johann Sebastian Bach's colleague, Christian Petzold, from the 1725 Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach.[1] Anna Magdalena was Bach's second wife. The music attracts the attention of Chan Kar-fu and Yau Muk-yan as Mok Man-yee plays it on her piano. The film score uses this theme repeatedly.
The film structure loosely follows that of the minuet: four "movements", which are announced by titles: two themes, a duet, and a set of variations.[1] 1- Chan Kar-fu's (Takeshi Kaneshiro) introduction 2- Yau Muk-yan's (Aaron Kwok) effect on his life 3- Mok Man-Yee's (Kelly Chen) effect on their lives 4- Chan Kar-fu's literary vision of love.[5] This fourth "movement" (Variations) is a wild fantasy on the previous material, based on the novel written by Kaneshiro's character: The XO Pair.[2]
Unemployed aspiring writer Yau Muk-yan (Aaron Kwok) moves into the apartment of Chan Kar-fu (Takeshi Kaneshiro), a shy piano tuner. Both will soon fall in love with their new neighbor Mok Man-Yee (Kelly Chen).
The film grossed HK$7.8 million in Hong Kong.[4]