The Legend of Love

Vietnamese Title - Nguu Lang Chuc Nu
No. of Chinese Episodes - 20
No. of Vietnamese Tapes - 15

The Cast:
Sonija Kwok
Deric Wan
Leila Tong
Stephen Au
Rain Lau
Angela Tong

Warning! Some spoilers!

The famous legend of the cowherd and the weaving girl will surely hook TVB viewers to watch this series. Despite knowing what happened at the end of the legend, I was still interested to find out how the producer would stretch it into a 20-episode serial. Overall, I enjoyed this series to the fullest despite its rather dull cast.

Brief Summary:
Sonja Kwok plays the weaving girl, Jik Lui, who is responsible for weaving the colorful clouds in heaven. Deric Wan plays the cowherd, Ngau Long, with an unknown identity. When Sonja comes to the mortal world searching for a beautiful “color ingredient” she causes a disaster in Deric’s village. After this accident, Sonja often leaves heaven to help Deric. When the “Lady of Heaven” finds out Sonja has fallen in love with a mortal being…

Leila plays a bird that is waiting to be classified as an immortal in heaven. However, she often helps Sonja and ends up getting in trouble. Similar to Sonja, Leila is very devoted to love and she will do anything to help her lover (Stephen – the “Money God” whose heart was switched and becomes evil).

Opinions on the Cast :
Sonija Kwok – With two series as a villainess (“Where The Legend Begins” and “Perish in the Name of Love”) I strongly believe she’s better with evil roles. Sonija as the beautiful fairy isn’t a very great choice, and here she delivers only an average performance. However, I must say that Sonija and Deric have great chemistry probably due to their off-screen love.

Deric Wan – Here he gives a much better performance than the other cast members. The many scenes with Sonija and Deric are well-done in both acting and the script.

Leila Tong – She’s extremely cute and likeable! Despite the numerous times when she stupidly sacrifices for Stephen, it’s impossible to hate her. I am glad that TVB is promoting her because she has potential.

Stephen is just average with his transition from an immortal without emotions to someone greedy with an evil heart. Angela Tong is unlike usual playing a kind-hearted rich daughter. Rain Lau is good but exaggerates in her acting like always.

Further Comments
Even though “The Legend of Love” isn’t a grand production, everything turns out pretty well. The settings are especially nice, it does gives a heavenly feeling. Costumes are just mediocre except for scenes of Sonja and Leila in heaven. Graphics and computer effects are done nicely and colorful, yet extremely unrealistic. The new idea of how heaven looks like is a great change. The dialogues in the series are well-written and there are some very meaningful ones that I can still remember.

One of my few complaints is the love story of Ngau Long and Jik Lui. It’s such a famous legend of love yet the story doesn’t really stand out. The love story of Charmaine and Steven in “Perish in the Name of Love” was even more memorable. My other complaint is the quite ridiculous ending. Knowing TVB, I knew they would alter the ending somehow.

My Final Comments
Despite the rather poor ending and some very small flaws, I found this series entertaining with an unique combination of stars. If you are not into plainly light-hearted series or extremely emotional dramas, then “The Legend of Love” is highly recommended.