OK, the often interesting Hong Kong director Fruit Chan may have done a Mainland Mainstream Sell-Out here with
a sugary sentiment dragging this romantic crime-drama down a bit. I wonder if he master his mandarin as the actors
seemed a bit lost sometimes ? Strange, because mainland chinese actors usually owns with rock solid performances.
BUT, even though this film adds some unnecessary fluff to it and the acting seemed a bit shaky, maybe due to a poor
screen adaption and/or poor person direction from Fruit Chan, it still had it's good moments.
And, "mainland" may not apply regarding Angelababy (Angela Yeung, a HK model,singer,actress) or Ethan Juan, who's
taiwanese. However as Ethan Juan is just fine, the same can't be said about Angelababy who sucks. Hot, but not good.

The Murder Mystery was intricate and very good with the motive found way back in time, and this film is based
on the novel from the bestselling chinese crime writer Cai Jun.
And, what's the point really with a Hong Kong guy making a crime drama in China, when the chinese themselves make
nowadays to HK totally superior crime movies, as Black Coal, Thin Ice made by Diao Yi-nan, A Touch of Sin by
Jia Zhang-Ke or Beijing Blues made by Gao Qunshu ? Wow, at least 2 of the above has been released widely on
DVD/Bluray in the west and now i want to see them again.
Also, in spite of Angelababy's performance, i want to read some novel by Cai Jun (many are translated into english)

Yeah, yeah, she's cute with those bee stung lips and i would probably be her sexual slave if she asked, but ...

The film jumps in time between 1995, 2000 and 2015. In 1995 police officers Tian Yao-jin and Wang Zhixian (Huang
Jue) examines a crime scene at a grocery store where a woman has been murdered, strangled by a lilac colored scarf,
with her young son Qiu-Shou found hiding in a cupboard. A case that the police never solved and named the Nanming
Road murder by the public. In 2015 when Tian Yao-jin has died his daughter Tian Xiao-mai (Angelababy) finds his
notebook from 1995 and she reads about the lilac scarf and decides to to her own sleuthing and she may have found
a clue on the internet (see pics above) when she see a similar scarf on sale, and her best friend Qian Ling (Rayza) soon
after is found dead, strangled with a lilac scarf.

The Nanming Road Murder investigation is re-animated and detective Wang investigates the murders.
What happened to the boy Qiu-Shou who grew up to be a handsome young boy who Xiao-Mai fell in love with. Why
did he disappear in 2000? Is he the man behind the internet site selling the scarves, and is she still pining for the lost boy
even though she has a boyfriend in Sheng Zan (Zhang Chao)? Questions.
And yees, Mr. Hong Kong film Lam Suet makes a cameo appearance as a hobo, a Great Man.
Anamorphic widescreen, mandarin audio DTS 5.1 or DD 5.1 with english subs, trailer, teaser and a gallery