Ji yuan tai qi hao

Gemächlich gleitet die Kamera über die Dächer Hongkongs – und weil Yonfans Bilder die eines traditionellen Animationsfilms sind, hat dieser Blick etwas Zärtliches und zugleich Nostalgisches. Man schreibt das Jahr 1967, Studenten protestieren für mehr Nähe zu Mao, anderswo verliebt sich ein junger Nachhilfelehrer in die Mutter seiner Schülerin. Zusammen gehen sie ins Kino und schauen alte französische Filme, während die erotische Spannung zwischen ihnen steigt. Yonfan, der große Außenseiterregisseur des Hongkongkinos, führt in dieser Hommage an seine Wahlheimat ganz nebenbei vor, wie kunstvoll sich im Animationsgenre Zeitgeschichte und Ghost Story, Laszivität und Ironie verbinden lassen. (Barbara Schweizerhof)

There are many things one takes for granted in animation: that it offers visual surprises, provides a sense of wonder all while infusing us with a certain longing for things lost, be it the naïveté of childhood or places we once new. Celebrated filmmaker Yonfan gives us all this and much more in his animation debut. NO 7 CHERRY LANE thereby is animation strictly for adults (and cat-lovers): The movie links history, politics and sex with a nostalgic cinephilia in a way that feels at once very grown-up and wonderously playful.
Yonfan takes the viewer back to Hongkong in the year 1967, where leftist students take to the streets to protest against colonialism and where the real estate market hasn't yet totally transformed the skyline. In its center the film is about a love triangle: English literature student Ziming takes on tutoring Meiling, the daughter of wealthy and beautiful Mrs. Yu. Intrigued by both, Ziming courts the ever restrained Mrs. Yu by taking her to the movies to see french actress Mrs. Simone, and lets himself be courted by the lively daughter. Yonfan’s animation is full of moody details like lingering cats and colorful neighbors and at the same time a touching (and in the present context very timely) hommage to a city that once was. (Barbara Schweizerhof)