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| Love is Beautiful Themesong – Stephanie Che If only the eyes can see the difference between right and wrong Can you see me clearly for just one moment? True feelings bury deep in my heart How can I share a love song that will last a thousand years with you? Differentiate me by my personality What is this girl feeling inside? Does my face show how I feel? Can you see me for who I am? Come see me clearly for once and for all Cry now Was it me who didn’t understand the lies? It was you who didn’t understand me But I still believe That true feelings cannot change Come now, look now Don’t be afraid now Live life with no regrets & no hate That is the price of love |
| Synopsis One of the better series TVB has produce recently. This ancient series has the same concept as John Woo’s Face Off. It stars Marianne Chan, Anne Heung, Eddie Cheung, Marco Ngai and Mak Bao. Marianne and Anne are “sisters” who grew up in Mei Yen Chuen (Beautiful People Village). Everyone from there (especially the women) are supposed to be beautiful except for Marianne and Anne. Marianne has a big pink birthmark that covers the left side of her face while Anne has pockmarks all over her face. Due to their outward appearances, they are ridicules by people from the village. Despite the fact that her appearance is not perfect, Anne is a kind, filial, loving person. Marianne, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. She is mean, deceitful, and rude. Everyone in the village hates her except for Anne. Anne would defend Marianne and would never believe that she is capable of any wrong doings. One day, a magician (Marco) comes to town and shows off his skills at changing faces. Marianne, who has always been desperate to be beautiful, experienced what it would be like to be beautiful when Marco changed her face (guest appearance from Charmaine Sheh). She gets addicted to this “power” and begs Marco to permanently change her face. Marco agrees but tells her that she needs to find someone who is very similar to her bone structure. Marianne excitably leaves to find her new face. Meantime, Eddie (playing the emperor) comes to the village for their annual parade of beautiful women and comes across Marco who tells him that danger will come soon and that an ugly woman will save his life. The emperor takes note of the warning but quickly forgets as scores of beautiful women floats by. Turns out, one of the woman on a float is an assassin (hired by Eddie’s uncle) out to kill the emperor. Anne saves Eddie’s life and Eddie ends up marrying Anne after falling for her kindness. Anne then reveals that she’s not really ugly, she draws the marks on her face each day so that Marianne will not be the only ugly one from the village. Unfortunately, Eddie gets kidnap by his own people and returns to the palace right after the wedding. He sends words to have Anne be brought back to be his West Palace Concubine. Marianne finds out the truth about Anne and was pissed off that now she is the only ugly one. Anne reassures her that no matter what she looks like on the outside, it’s the inside that counts. Inner beauty is more important than outer beauty as Anne often say. Marianne retorts that Anne can afford to say that since she has the outer beauty. Marianne is now more determine than ever to find a face to switch with. One day, Marco and Marianne walk around the village trying to find someone and bump into Anne. Marco reveals to Marianne that Anne is the perfect candidate. Marianne has some hesitation since Anne is her best friend but overcomes it when she gets into trouble with the law. The night before Anne is to leave for the palace, Marianne gets her drunk and takes her to Marco. Marco switches their faces and Anne wakes up the next day with Marianne’s face while Marianne is now Anne. The now “evil” Anne prepares herself for the journey to the palace while the “good” Marianne is thrown in jail for murder. While Marianne is trying to save her own life, Anne is living happily with Eddie. Eddie is so captivated by Anne’s beauty, he refused to hold court, telling his officials that he is sick. Instead, he spends all his time with Anne, thus neglecting his duty to the people. Marianne escapes from jail with help and leaves for the palace. She wants her life back and believes that she can convince Eddie that he is living with the wrong person. Along the way, she meets Mak Bao who is a con artist who promised Marianne that he would take her to the palace. At first, Mak Bao is just using her for money but Marianne’s kindness change him for the better. They become friends but soon Mak Bao feels more than just friendship for Marianne. Eddie and Anne arrive at the same village as Marianne and Mak Bao for some kind of ceremony. Marianne sneaks into the Buddhist monastery so she can tell Eddie the truth but before she can do that, she finds Anne instead. Anne promises Marianne that she will find a time to tell Eddie the truth. She tells Marianne to meet her at a particular spot and she will bring Eddie to her. Despite Mak Bao’s warning that it’s a trap, Marianne eagerly heads out to meet Anne only to have Anne stabs her in the stomach. Knowing something is wrong, Mak Bao heads out and carrys Marianne back to the inn thus saving her life. By this time, Marianne’s father has discovers that something is amiss here and realized that Anne is not his real daughter. He heads to the palace to tell Eddie but Anne poisons him so that he cannot talk or move. Eddie accidentally sees Anne hitting her own father and notices that something’s not right. The Anne he knows is kind and filial so he does some investigating and finds out the truth. Still, he does not fully believe it so Mak Bao comes up with a plan to trap Anne into telling the truth. Anne gets send to prison and Marianne takes her rightful place as the West Palace Concubine. But Eddie is not satisfied with having the “real” Anne back by his side, he wants her real face back too so he orders his men to capture Marco so that he can change their faces back. Marco is capture and attempts to change their faces back but he is unsuccessful. Marianne, who doesn’t want Eddie to kill Marco (cause she owns him a favor), decides to switch places with Anne and lie to Eddie. Eddie rushes in thinking Anne is really Marianne and proclaims that he is so happy to have his beautiful Anne back. He confesses to her that he couldn’t stand the sight of the ugly Marianne and is so glad that he doesn’t have to see her anymore. Unfortunately for Anne, she returns to her old habit of picking at her wax and gives herself away. Eddie pushes Anne aside and finds Marianne sobbing in hurt and anger. Marianne’s father and Mak Bao convinces Marianne that Eddie doesn’t love her and that he’s an idiot for allowing Anne’s beauty to control him. Marianne tearfully agrees to leave the palace. Meanwhile, Anne continues to cast a spell on Eddie with her beauty until Marianne’s servant break the spell and Eddie comes to his senses and rush to stop Marianne from leaving. He begs and pleas for Marianne to stay. In front of his men, Eddie gets down to kneel before Marianne and promises to love her forever. Touched by his sincerity, Marianne decides to give him another chance and stays. Eddie makes Marianne his Empress. Soon, her kindness wins the heart of the people as she teaches Eddie how to become a better Emperor. The uncle comes up with a plan to send Eddie into battle hoping he’ll be killed. Marianne goes with Eddie to keep him company. There, she wins the heart of the warriors and the people by winning battles. Eddie returns to the palace while Marianne stays behind to win the war. While they’re away, the Dowager Empress (Eddie’s mom) secretly have Anne killed because she knows that Marianne and Eddie has a soft heart and would have prevented it. Little does the Dowager Empress know that the uncle rescued Anne, as he wants her to become part of his master plan in taking over the thrown. Marianne returns after convincing the enemy that it is better to make peace rather than starving his people to death by continue fighting. But during the time she is away fighting, Eddie encounters “Si Si” who looks exactly like Anne. Guess what, it is Anne. The uncle, along with Marco, created this “new and improved” Anne who is supposed to be, not only beautiful but well-educated, kind, and talented. Of course, Eddie falls under her spell and makes her his new West Palace Concubine. Instead of being jealous that her husband is having an affair with another woman while she’s busy saving his country, Marianne accepts Anne and treats her like a sister. (If I was Marianne, I would have set the whole palace on fire!) Soon, both Marianne and Anne are pregnant. Eddie is overjoyed that his two favorite women are getting along so well. (Which man wouldn’t?) But bad habit dies hard as Anne goes back to her old roots. Anne wants to be the Empress and she wants her son to be a future Emperor and will do everything to make it come true. So she makes it seem that Marianne is trying to force her to abort her baby. Eddie gets mad at Marianne without waiting for an explanation, fully believing Anne’s lies. By the time the two babies are born, Eddie is so caught up with Anne’s lies that he believes everything so she says including the fact that Marianne had an affair with the enemy. Maybe there is justice in the world because Anne’s son is dark-skin and ugly while Marianne gives birth to a healthy beautiful baby boy. In fear of what Eddie will think, Anne switches her son with Marianne’s and tells Eddie that Marianne is the one lying. In order to get Marianne to admit to the truth (which is really a lie), Eddie threatened to have the baby kill, thinking Marianne wouldn’t have the heart to see her son die, but what Eddie has forgotten is that Marianne is a kindhearted woman who wouldn’t want to watch anyone die, let alone an innocent baby. So in order to save the kid, Marianne admits that the dark-skinned baby is hers. Eddie throws her in jail to await punishment. The Empress Dowager tries to save both the baby and Marianne by helping her escape but Marianne has to leave baby in a forest as she is capture by Eddie’s soldiers. Anne hands Eddie the proof that Marianne did indeed had an affair with another man so Eddie sentences Marianne to death by beheading her. Only after the pleas from his generals, did Eddie realizes his mistake. But it was too, Marianne is beheaded and everyone thought she’s dead. Turns out that heaven decides to give her another chance. Marianne finds Anne’s baby in the forest and decides to raise him as her own. The heaven grants her 18 years of life and Marianne happily agrees. Six years later, Eddie feels so guilty about killing Marianne that he leaves everything to his uncle. He doesn’t have the heart or the energy to run his country anymore so he just lies around all day. He doesn’t even visit Anne or his son often. Left to her own devices, Anne begins teaching the kid to be mean and cruel. The kid actually takes after his own mother (Marianne) in that he helps others and is really kind but Anne puts a stop to that and brainwash the kid into believing he is being taken advantage of and that everyone is using him. On the other hand, Marianne is having a hard time bringing up Anne’s son who also takes after his real mother. He lies, cheats, and dreams of being rich. That is until Marianne’s actions touches him and he becomes a dutiful son. Twelve years later, Marianne escorts her son to the capital so he can take his civil examination. There, Marianne reunites with her father and Mak Bao. That’s when she finds out how horrible the country is. People are starving due to high taxes so they steal and rob other people. Also, Marianne hears first hand how mean and cruel her own son is. The crown prince is a big bully who takes what he wants without a care. He rapes young girls whenever they catch his fancy and the whole city hates and fears him. All except Marianne who drags him into the forest and spanks the heck out of him when she catches him forcing himself on Mak Bao’s daughter. When Marianne’s adopted son finds out that he’s Eddie’s son and that Marianne is the Empress, he wants to go back to the palace and take revenge on Marianne’s real son (the crown prince) and try to help the country get back in shape. Marianne reluctantly agree because she knows she will have to face Anne again but she also want to teach her own son to be good. To the chagrin of Anne, Eddie happily reinstates Marianne as his Empress and welcomes them back to the palace. Eddie, knowing that Anne’s son (the crown prince) is not a good person, let alone a good emperor, decides to change his will and wants Marianne’s son to become the next emperor. Marianne disagrees with his decision but doesn’t tell him why (of course she wants her own son to be the next emperor!). Her adopted son can’t understand why his mother is doing this. He can’t understand why she is protecting this son of a gun who has done so many bad things. That is, until Anne tells him the truth. Knowing that Eddie wants to change the will, she wants her own son to know that she’s his real mother so she can continue to be the Dowager Empress (either way she wins, right?). Wanting to guarantee her wealth and status, Anne frames Marianne’s real son. Left with no choice, Eddie sentences his own son to death. Despites all the pleading and reasoning, Eddie will not listen to Marianne so she did what any mother would do. She holds Anne’s son hostage and demands that her own son be release. Eddie agrees to the exchange. Marianne’s adopted son screams that their mother and son relationship is forever over. He is no longer her son and she is no longer his mother. Marianne tearfully tells him that she hopes he’ll understand one day and leaves. Marianne spends this time teaching her son to be good again. She succeeds with the help of an ex-general. Back at the palace, Marco and Anne kill the Dowager Empress, the uncle and poisoned Eddie when he found out Anne’s truly evil. Anne tells her son that Marco will be the Prime Minister for the duration and that he should report to him. The son begins to suspect something is wrong when Eddie becomes paralyzed and unable to speak. He puts on a show for his mother but in reality, he has been communicating with his father through blinking and pointing to words. The son finds out from his father what Anne’s plan is and stops it with the help of Marianne and her family. Anne and Marco’s evil plan is exposed. Marco is beheaded by Eddie’s own hands. Anne’s real son rescues her and abandons the thrown to be with his mother. Alas, while the son went in a monastery to get some food, Anne wanders to the cliff and there, haunted by the image of herself, she falls to her death. The son returns to the palace and becomes the crown prince while Marianne’s real son will assists his brother. After everything settle down, Marianne realizes that it’s her time to go. She tells the heaven that she’s ready and has no regret in leaving her family. The heaven responds by telling her that she has moved them with her kindness and devotion so she is allowed to stay on earth for the remainder of her life. As a parting gift, the heaven takes away the birthmark, making Marianne as beautiful on the outside as she is on the inside. Personal Comments: It’s a shame that Marianne decides to leave the acting world. She has truly become a great actress and I will miss seeing her onscreen. I remember that when she first appeared, I couldn’t stand her (much like Anne and Charmaine), but after watching Life for Life, I changed my mind and especially after watching this series. This actress has some acting chops! Love her in the beginning when she was playing Chor Chor. As for Anne, my hatred of her as an actress has lessened considerably. Her take on Chor Chor is good (not as good as when Marianne was playing her but well enough). It’s a relief to see her portraying an evil person rather than the goodie-goodie (like Legend of Lady Yang & Seven Sisters) she normally does. This series reminds me of another series, (No, it’s not Life for Life or Legend of Lady Yang) that’s Reaching Out. Marianne’s character and Gordon’s character are very similar. Both are moral, kind-hearted, and teach other people how to be good too. Gordon changes his mother (Mei Suet) and Benny to be a good person while Marianne teaches her two sons. But the one thing that stands out for Love is Beautiful is that it makes us question whether a person can be judge by what he/she looks like. Call me cynical, but in real life (like the series), people like Anne’s character can get away with murder because they’re beautiful. On the other hand, people like Marianne’s character does not get the same benefits. If those two are interviewing for the same job with Marianne as the one better qualified, Anne will still end up with the position anyway as she is more attractive. It’s a fact of life and this series reiterate that. But don’t listen to my “glass is half empty” views. Go rent this for yourself and you might learn an important lesson. Rating: $$$$ |
| Poster provided by Starscentral |
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