Love at First Sight
Wislawa Szymborska
Both are convinced
that a sudden surge of emotion bound them together.
Beautiful is such a certainty,
but uncertainty is more beautiful.
Because they didn't know each other earlier, they suppose that
nothing was happening between them.
What of the streets, stairways and corridors
where they could have passed each other long ago?
I'd like to ask them
whether they remember-- perhaps in a revolving door
ever being face to face?
an "excuse me" in a crowd
or a voice "wrong number" in the receiver.
But I know their answer:
no, they don't remember.
They'd be greatly astonished
to learn that for a long time
chance had been playing with them.
Not yet wholly ready
to transform into fate for them
it approached them, then backed off,
stood in their way
and, suppressing a giggle,
jumped to the side.
There were signs, signals:
but what of it if they were illegible.
Perhaps three years ago,
or last Tuesday
did a certain leaflet fly
from shoulder to shoulder?
There was something lost and picked up.
Who knows but what it was a ball
in the bushes of childhood.
There were doorknobs and bells
on which earlier
touch piled on touch.
Bags beside each other in the luggage room.
Perhaps they had the same dream on a certain night,
suddenly erased after waking.
Every beginning
is but a continuation,
and the book of events
is never more than half open.
-translated by Walter Whipple
I love this poem by the Polish poet, essayist,translator and 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature, Wisława Szymborska, immortalized by the Hong Kong filmmaking team of Johnny To and Wai Ka-fai in the movie Turn Left, Turn Right. Mere words are inadequate to describe how I love the Hongkong Singaporean movie even more than the poem, though I kept putting off watching it. This 2003 romantic drama filmed in picturesque Taipei is based on the book A Chance of Sunshine by Jimmy Liao. The film, about a lonely man and woman seemingly perfect for each other, but who always seem to just miss meeting each other , embodied the essence of this poem. Asian screen god Takeshi Kaneshiro, the Japanese Taiwanese star, plays John Liu, a fumbling yet aspiring concert violinist. He spends his days playing the violin for the birds in the park , attending auditions for orchestras , and escaping the clutches of predatory women who only want his body.The adorable singer actress Gigi Leung is Eve Choi, a book translator who prefers poetry to the scary horror novels, her editor assigns to her. She recites Love at First Sight to her cat. The couple live out their identical, lonely, parallel lives, oblivious that they occupy apartments next to each other in the same building. When destiny finally allows them to cross each other's path, past and present collide in a collage of love. But even then, fate can be a cruel mistress and the couple is separated and they struggle to reunite. The movie like life is slow and melodramatic with comedic gaps provided by the suitor who pursue John and Eva. Edward Elgar's violin solos waft in the air thoughout the movie and Gigi sings a couple of sweet love songs. Gigi and Takeshi's on screen chemistry is undeniable. They likewise lit up the screen in another favorite film, Tempting Heart where they play a couple in a love triangle. I can't imagine any other actor in their roles for Turn Left, Turn Right, unless of course its a Hollywood remake with the irresistible Sandra Bullock-Keanu Reeves tandem. The title, Xiang Zuo Zuo, Xiang You Zou translates to Turn Left Turn Right. If you still believe in love at first sight, even if its only in the movies, take a leap of faith and watch this movie.Click here to order the DVD: http://www.yesasia.com/global/1002885865-0-0-0-en/info.html
