Last Updated on September 30, 2020 by rob
Talented piano student Je (Jay Choo) finds his attention caught by the enigmatic Rain (Guey Lun Mei), a girl who tells him about a mysterious melody hidden in their music school’s soon to be demolished ballroom. But when Je later discovers a decades old photo of Rain with his father (the girl looking exactly the same age) it leads him back to the ballroom and a desperate performance of a mysterious melody which, if performed correctly, will let him travel back through time to reunite with the woman who waits for him, 20 years in the past.
Basically Somewhere In Time for teens but as awful as that sounds imaginatively written and well acted – especially by Lun Mei as the enigmatic love interest who journeys across time from 20 years earlier to be with our hero. Jay Choo’s confident direction (this is not only the multi-talented Taiwanese musician’s debut as director but he also plays the lead, composes the evocative melody heard in the movie and came up with the original story!) coupled with the across the board good performances from veterans like Anthony Wong as Je’s Dad engage, even as the story’s mystery keeps you guessing. The very idea of a piece of music that can transport you forward or backward in time is of course a deliriously romantic conceit and one the film does full justice too in its playful encounters between Je and Lu. In these scenes one can sense something under the surface – some bit of information regarding one or more of the characters we’re not privy too – that piques our curiosity.
It’s only in the latter half of the movie that the penny drops and we begin to understand just what it is that’s been unfolding here. Indeed for the first half I was increasingly convinced this was another Sixth Sense and that at least one of the characters pursuing our hero would turn out to be long dead and a ghost that only he can see. Indeed a pivotal flashback sequence seems to confirm that. However the truth turns out to be something else again. If Secret has a weakness it’s that supporting players such as Wong’s father and the actress playing Rain’s forlorn mother come across as so sympathetic that we’d really like to learn more about them but, alas, we never get the chance.
That aside Secret is cracking stuff. An early piano duel/duet between newcomer Je and the reigning school music champ is a good-natured and invigorating showpiece with the camera swooping in and out amongst the competing piano keys and there’s effective comic relief from a pair of dunderheaded sports jocks Je befriends. It all builds to a climactic sequence in which to be reunited with his love Je must perform a note perfect rendition of the melody as the grand old ballroom he’s in comes crashing down around him under the wrecking ball of a demolition team. It’s all quite exciting and reflecting on the movie after viewing increases ones admiration for just how cleverly structured Secret is, how well we’ve been misled and how satisfying the revelations are when they come. Very good indeed.
