Plot Synopses
TO LIV(E)
Rubie (Lindzay Chan) lives in Hong Kong with her artist boyfriend, John (Fung Kin Chung). In December 1989, Rubie becomes angered by a statement made by Liv Ullmann about the inhumane treatment of Vietnamese refugees by the Hong Kong authorities. In the wake of the events in Beijing that June, Rubie questions Ullmann's timing in a letter she composes and addresses to the Scandinavian actress. Passages from the letter punctuate the rest of the film as Rubie must decide, along with members of her family and circle of Hong Kong artists and intellectuals, whether to stay or leave Hong Kong before July 1, 1997. Throughout the film, Rubie talks to a range of people about their feelings regarding the turnover.
Rubie's brother Tony (Wong Yiu-Ming) prepares to immigrate to Australia with his fiancée, Teresa (Josephine Ku). Teresa, however, has mixed feelings about the departure and about her relationship with Tony. Older, divorced, and estranged from her son, Teresa is prone to morbid thoughts and depression. She is thoroughly disliked by Tony and Rubie's parents, and she fears loosing the younger Tony to another woman. The stormy relationship comes to a head when Tony threatens suicide after a jealous scene at a party.
CROSSINGS
A red shoe, symbol of romantic happiness and the joys of marriage in traditional Chinese lore, is all that remains of Mo-Yung (Anita Yuen), a victim of a stalker's violence on a New York subway platform. Mo-Yung had come to New York, against her parents' wishes and illegally, to pursue her boyfriend, Benny (Simon Yam). Mo-Yung thinks Benny is a photographer, but he is actually an international drug smuggler. Pursuing Benny, Mo-Yung rubs against the seamier elements of New York as she unsuspectingly plays cat-and-mouse with a shipment of Benny's contraband. Rubie (Lindzay Chan) is a social worker in New York, who befriends Mo-Yung. Joey (Ted Brunetti) is a psychotic school teacher, who has a fetish for Asian women. Joey stalks Rubie, whom he has seen as a community spokeswoman on television. Mistaking Mo-Yung for Rubie, he kills Mo-Yung on a subway platform.
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