My Left Eye Sees Ghosts Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

My Left Eye Sees Ghosts Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 17, 2015

Nominated for Best Actress and Best Original Song Awards at the Golden Horse Film Festival, Johnnie To's "My Left Eye Sees Ghosts" (2002) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Kam & Ronson Enterprises. The only bonus feature on the disc is an original trailer for the film. In Cantonese, with optional English and Traditional Mandarin subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

May and the friendly ghost

A wealthy playboy unexpectedly dies and his new wife, May (Sammi Cheng, Blind Detective, Love On A Diet), inherits a large chunk of his money. This seriously upsets the playboy’s ex-girlfriend and business partner and she demands that May is forced to contribute to the company they founded together.

A few days later, May gets seriously drunk and crashes her late husband’s expensive car. At the crash site, May meets Dan (Lau Ching-Wan, The Bullet Vanishes), a friendly ghost, who saves her by forcing her soul back into her injured body. May then undergoes a complicated medical procedure that allows her to see other ghosts -- though only with her left eye.

When May recovers, Ken reappears and the two begin spending time together. Unfortunately, other not so friendly ghosts also begin following her around and a few even manage to temporarily sneak into her body. May’s frequent mood swings quickly convince her relatives that she has lost her mind.

Directed by veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Johnnie To and partner Wai Ka-Fai, My Left Eye Sees Ghosts is a charming romantic comedy that does not break any genre boundaries but offers a few effective twists that make it stick out from other similarly-themed films. It should appeal primarily to male viewers who are familiar with Johnnie To’s classic action films as well as female viewers who frequently seek out casual comedies that are easy to enjoy with someone special.

The first half of the film focuses on the spoiled May and her struggle to fit into the boring business world of her late husband. When Ken appears her life becomes a lot more exciting, but her body also becomes an easy target for other ghosts and she repeatedly finds herself working hard to reclaim it. In the process, she begins reevaluating her life.

The second half is infused with a good dose of nostalgia that gives the film its identity. Instead of focusing only on May’s silly experiences, the film gradually forces one to begin thinking about the little things that make life worth living.

Still, this is not a film that needs to be carefully analyzed. Its primary goal is to entertain and ultimately make one temporarily forget one’s long list of daily chores. Indeed, it has excellent energy and, more importantly, the right attitude for a film whose limitations are quite obvious.

Sammi Cheng and Lau Ching-Wan are clearly the stars of the film, but the supporting cast features a number of familiar faces from much bigger Johnnie To projects. Veteran Lam Suet is May’s father, the elegant Kelly Lin is Sam’s dead girlfriend, Wong Tin-Lam is Sam’s father, and Simon Yam plays a handsome playboy on a mission.

The special effects are unlikely to impress viewers who appreciate what skilled technicians can do for big-budget Hollywood productions, but they work great here. The film also has a very consistent and effective pacing.

Johnnie To shot My Left Eye Sees Ghosts with cinematographers Cheng Siu-Keung and To Hung-Mo. Both have previously worked with the Hong Kong director on such local hits as the Election films, Sparrow, Mad Detective, and Running on Karma.

My Left Eye Sees Ghosts Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Johnnie To's My Left Eye Sees Ghosts arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors Kam & Ronson Enterprises.

The high-definition transfer has been struck from a pre-existing master and there are some obvious fluctuations in terms of clarity and detail. Additionally, there are traces of extremely light sharpening adjustments that were probably applied on the master when the film was prepped for DVD release. There are no traces of recent degraining corrections, but it is obvious that with a more recent master grain will be a lot better distributed and resolved. Colors are stable but saturation could be better. Finally, there are no serious stability issues, but a few tiny scratches and flecks remain. All in all, there is definitely room for improvement, but this is actually a fairly decent presentation of an older film from the Kam & Ronson Enterprises' catalog. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

My Left Eye Sees Ghosts Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: Cantonese: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 and Mandarin: Dolby Digital 5.1 EX. For the record, there are optional English and Traditional (Mandarin) subtitles for the main feature.

I would much rather have original audio tracks on these catalog releases, but there is a very large number of Hong Kong-produced discs that feature only elaborate mixes. The Dolby TrueHD 7.1 was almost certainly created for the initial DVD release of the film and balance isn't overly convincing, but there are no distracting spikes or drops in dynamic activity. The dialog is stable and easy to follow. Also, there are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report in this review.

My Left Eye Sees Ghosts Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for My Left Eye Sees Ghosts. In Cantonese, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

My Left Eye Sees Ghosts Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

My Left Eye Sees Ghosts is a minor entry in Johnnie To's oeuvre, but it is a very entertaining one. It has plenty of that unique energy and charm that made many Hong Kong-produced films big local and international hits during the late '80s and early '90s. Now that production companies from mainland China have irreversibly altered the local business climate and with it the type of films that are made, My Left Eye Sees Ghosts feels like a very rare gem. Fans of Johnnie To and his work should not miss it. RECOMMENDED.