Many movie critics have blasted this show, primarily for the plot and also for the scene where Cecilia Cheung wears a feather-like costume and "flies".
What strikes me, however, on a superficial level, is the Korean actor who acts as a slave. Yes, he has the ability to melt girls' hearts, not mine though. The real striking factor for me though is the plot. Being a literature major, knowing the plot of a text very well can stimulate implications and help me in my exam preparations, really.
Cecilia is given a choice by a goddess between wealth and love. She chooses the former, as she has lived in poverty since young, having to steal food from the dead to fill her stomach. Thus as she grows up, she fails to find true love. Men really lust after her peerless beauty and she doesn't love the one who truly loves her while the one she truly loves has a disparity in status with her. Eventually she is given a second chance to choose when she is allowed to go back in time to that moment of choice. The audience is left wondering which choice she'll make this time.
There is a sub-plot where the slave is made aware of his past as a nobility and seeks revenge on the villain who massacred his entire family. It turns out that the villain has become cynical of trust since Cecilia betrayed his trust as a young girl. This is a poignant moment as one realises that villains may hide something tragic underneath their seemingly ruthless exterior. Another is given the opportunity to make amends for his decision made of surviving at the expense of integrity and loyalty, by sacrificing himself. The only way he stays true to himself is through death, an ironic end to his initial situation.
I find the plots interesting and profound, in contrast to the movie critics. Well, to each his own.
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