Romancing in Thin Air (; "High-Altitude Romance II") is a 2012 Hong Kong-Chinese contemporary romantic drama film directed by Johnnie To, and starring Louis Koo and Sammi Cheng.
Plot
While onstage to receive an acting award, Hong Kong screen god Michael Lau (Louis Koo) proposes to his mainland co-star, Ding Yuanyuan (Gao Yuanyuan). At the paparazzi-packed wedding reception, however, the bride runs away with her first love, coal miner Zhang Xing (Wang Baoqiang).
Michael goes on an alcoholic bender, and has the unlikely coincidence of tumbling into the back of a truck bound for Shangri-La County, in northwest Yunnan province, China. At Deep Woods Hotel, a ranch-style guesthouse 3,800 metres up in the mountains, the lovelorn Michael falls seriously ill with altitude sickness and is nursed back to health by owner Sue (Sammi Cheng) and the local doctor (Tien Niu).
Sue was a onetime art student from Hong Kong who worked there while studying in China and fell for the place and its owner, Yang Xiaotian (Li Guangjie). Seven years ago, Xiaotian went into the vast forest surrounding the guesthouse to rescue a young boy and never returned. Hoping he is still alive, Sue continues to run the place with two assistants.
Michael sobers up and discovers that Sue was an early member years ago of his international fan club. A flashback reveals a parallel romance in which Michael was instrumental in bringing Tian and Sue together. The two bond. Meanwhile, Michael's manager, Barbara (Huang Yi), is still anxiously trying to trace him. And one day, a raggedy rucksack belonging to Xiaotian is found in the forest, and Sue's hopes rise that her husband is still alive.
Cast
Louis Koo as Liu Baiqian/Michael Liu
Sammi Cheng as Sau/Sue
Li Guangjie as Yang Xiaotian
Gao Yuanyuan as Ding Yuanyuan
Wang Baoqiang as Zhang Xing
Huang Yi as Barbara, Michael's manager
Tien Niu as doctor
Wilfred Lau as Xiaolei, Barbara's assistant
Yang Yi as Sue's chubby assistant/Teeny
Sun Jiayi as Sue's taller assistant/Beauty
Fu Chuanjie as priest
Li Haitao as search party leader
Chan Kung as mechanic
Ji Chen as Xiaotian, in film
Yang Zhongliang as grandfather, in film
Zhao Yinlou as grandmother, in film
Gesanglamu as Xiaoliang's sister, in film
Hung Wai-leung as Michael's assistant
Mak Kai-kwong as commercials director
Calvin Lam as reporter
Elanie Tsang as reporter
Lo Kim-wah as film's executive director
Fu Shusheng as grandfather
Xu Feifei as grandmother
Li Qiuer as Xiaoliang's sister
Jiang Binshen as professor
Reception
Maggie Lee of Variety wrote: "A superstar and his erstwhile fan develop a high-concept romance when thrown together in an inn two-and-a-half miles above sea level in Johnnie To's gorgeous-looking escapist [melodrama]". Lee compared it to his previous film "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" calling it "still overwrought but less calculated than the earlier effort" saying it would likely appeal to Valentine's Day audiences but not to To's action or arthouse fans.