Paris, Je’taime was so successful both critically and at the box office that directors in other cities around the world have been trying to make their own version of the anthology film. Pretty much like how global cities tend to attract crass imitators around the world, these effort have been more miss than hit. Lover’s Discourse comes across Hong Kong’s version of an anthology of quirky love films and I’m pleased to say that it’s not a bad effort at all.

As the film’s title suggests, the approach the directors have chosen is more intellectual. This translates to each short story in this film revolving around 1. a quirky approach focusing on the moments of love found and lost that subverts how the cinema tells love stories and 2. an unexpected resolution that ties with such an approach. It’s a clever approach that pays off generously when done right. If not, the short story might feel too contrived, its conclusion too forced.

There are four stories altogether and they play in this order: a pair of friends who seem stuck in the ‘friend zone’, a laundry shop owner whose daydreams about her clients are literally the stuff of movies, a teenager who is after his best friend’s cougar mom, and two strangers whose partners are cheating with each other.

The stories are not too bad taken in isolation. Most of them might even surpass Eric Khoo in their inventiveness – in particular, the brilliant short with the laundress, whose love interest in her daydreams is always played by a mannequin. To be honest, a hit rate of three out of four is really good for an anthology film but the filmmakers need to realise that a good anthology needs both a strong opening and closing story to work.

Lover’s Discourse is a rare film with arty, brainy ambitions that not only doesn’t fall flat halfway but also appeals to a mainstream audience. The casting of the movie does help, of course.