My Heart Is That Eternal Rose Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

My Heart Is That Eternal Rose Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 25, 2025

Note: This version of this film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Nomad + My Heart Is That Eternal Rose double feature set from Radiance Films.

Eureka! Entertainment relatively recently released The Sword (note that the link points to a Region A release), the film that is cited in several of the supplements on that disc as being a preeminent example of the so-called Hong Kong New Wave, and also notable for being the first feature film from director Patrick Tam, a name strongly associated with the then nascent "movement". Fans of Tam and/or the Hong Kong New Wave should be enthused about this double feature from Radiance Films, which offers 1982's Nomad, Tam's third film in what looks to be its international Blu-ray debut, along with the somewhat later My Heart Is That Eternal Rose, which looks like it received a previous Region A Blu-ray release a few months ago as of the writing of this review.

In a way, this "New Wave" feature may be more in tune with how many people think of that idiom, at least with regard to its French iteration in such films as Breathless and/or Shoot the Piano Player, since there's an organized crime element to this tale. A young woman named Lap (Tsu Hsien Wang AKA Joey Wang) and her boyfriend Rick (Kenny Bee) find themselves ensconced in the aftermath of a job gone wrong masterminded by Lap's organized crime kingpin father. The lovers have to survive as what seem to be pawns in someone else's game, something that becomes even more convoluted after the two part for a while, but the reunite with Rick now newly armed with a "special set of skills", but Lap having in the meanwhile caught the eye of Cheung (Tony Leung).

My Heart Is That Eternal Rose Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

My Heart Is That Eternal Rose is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Radiance only sent check discs for purposes of this review, and so I'm not privy to any verbiage contained in an insert booklet, but their website mentions a 2K restoration. There are some interesting and evocative lighting and/or grading choices on tap here, some of which can be seen in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, and some of the darkest material, especially scenes almost slathered in cobalt blues, can see detail levels falter at times. The opening bar sequence struck me as a bit too bright and yellow, but contrast improves markedly after that, and both some deep red and kind of more sickly yellow-green scenes pop extremely well, with some surprisingly consistent fine detail levels. Grain can be fairly thick and even splotchy at times, including in some relatively brief establishing shots.

My Heart Is That Eternal Rose Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rather interestingly for a relatively contemporary feature, My Heart is That Eternal Rose features both Mandarin and Cantonese tracks delivered via LPCM 2.0 Mono. Both of these provide solid listening experiences, though you get the dreaded "loose sync" at various times with each. I found the Mandarin track to be a bit more full bodied, especially in the midrange, something that may be most noticeable during moments of scoring. Dialogue in both languages is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

My Heart Is That Eternal Rose Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Frank Djeng


• John Sham (HD; 9:03) features the film's producer in an interview listed as having been shot in 2019 and then edited by Radiance in 2024.


• Patrick Tam: Forgotten New Wave Auteur (HD; 16:59) is a really interesting new piece by David Desser looking at the Hong Kong New Wave and Patrick Tam.


• C.I.D.: Dawn Noon, Dusk Night (HD; 50:24) is an example of Tam's television work, something that had already brought him a fair degree of success by the time he got the chance to direct his first feature film. Video quality is pretty spotty.


• Trailer (HD; 1:45)

My Heart Is That Eternal Rose Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Frank Djeng's commentary mentions the French New Wave, noir, and Blue Velvet as references for this film, but the film definitely has its own distinctive flavor, even if Djeng discloses that Tam himself may not be overly fond of this effort. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements very appealing. Recommended.