“Love in a Puff” (志明與春嬌) is a Hong Kong local film. It is not a tragic love story, but a story about love. Two reasons draw me watch this movie, the first reason is the main characters, Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yue. The second reason is this movie is rated as level three, which means person aged below 18 are not allowed to enter cinema enjoying the film. This story is echoing everyday life experience, it can happen around us, occur in everywhere, anytime and anyone.
Director Peng Ho-Cheung produces it as a very localized and full of Hong Kong characteristic film through many settings and plots, such as foul languages, office background, alley, truant, SMS and Facebook. The senses of localness make audience more engage in the movie and create a sense of belonging. SMS is being one of the most important plot in the film, which is the main communication method by two main characters, it notes the shift of communication methods and the importance of textual message in this generation. Our generation tends to like textual message more than talk in call phone or face-to-face. We all write SMS and explore Facebook every day. In the ending scene, Chi Ming (志明) also use textual message to express his love to Chun Giu (春嬌) by a symbolic icon “ u 55im I”, it reflects our daily life, we like to use iconic symbol in SMS or MSN.
After the anti-smoking law launched in last two years, alley becomes a popular meet up point for office people. The scene in alley also shows the style of Hong Kong working class, they all truant in office hours, talking office gossips with a group of people and the talking points relate some sexual gossips and always used foul language. Foul language is necessarily needed in this film, which is not downgrade the film but also adds Hong Kong typical working class uniqueness and nature.
This film is rated as level three as it has too many smoking scenes. Same as foul language, smoking is needed in the film. Puff connotes as loneliness and sadness, more smoking scenes emphasize Chun Giu’s loneliness and the wish of marriage That’s why they give up smoking after they are getting along.
Choosing Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yu be the main characters is a very good strategy. The character personality and the storyline is just the shadow of them. Chun Giu, a middle-age woman and wish on marriage, is portrayal of Miriam’s background. Miriam Yeung is also dating with a younger man and showing a wish on marriage in the real world. Star image matches the character in the film. Shawn Yue also has alike character with Chi Ming, such as young, smoking and fashionable. Their acting and image makes audience can easily involve in the movie. By choosing the right character is enhancing audience expectation and involvement.
Director Peng Ho-Cheung produces it as a very localized and full of Hong Kong characteristic film through many settings and plots, such as foul languages, office background, alley, truant, SMS and Facebook. The senses of localness make audience more engage in the movie and create a sense of belonging. SMS is being one of the most important plot in the film, which is the main communication method by two main characters, it notes the shift of communication methods and the importance of textual message in this generation. Our generation tends to like textual message more than talk in call phone or face-to-face. We all write SMS and explore Facebook every day. In the ending scene, Chi Ming (志明) also use textual message to express his love to Chun Giu (春嬌) by a symbolic icon “ u 55im I”, it reflects our daily life, we like to use iconic symbol in SMS or MSN.
After the anti-smoking law launched in last two years, alley becomes a popular meet up point for office people. The scene in alley also shows the style of Hong Kong working class, they all truant in office hours, talking office gossips with a group of people and the talking points relate some sexual gossips and always used foul language. Foul language is necessarily needed in this film, which is not downgrade the film but also adds Hong Kong typical working class uniqueness and nature.
This film is rated as level three as it has too many smoking scenes. Same as foul language, smoking is needed in the film. Puff connotes as loneliness and sadness, more smoking scenes emphasize Chun Giu’s loneliness and the wish of marriage That’s why they give up smoking after they are getting along.
Choosing Miriam Yeung and Shawn Yu be the main characters is a very good strategy. The character personality and the storyline is just the shadow of them. Chun Giu, a middle-age woman and wish on marriage, is portrayal of Miriam’s background. Miriam Yeung is also dating with a younger man and showing a wish on marriage in the real world. Star image matches the character in the film. Shawn Yue also has alike character with Chi Ming, such as young, smoking and fashionable. Their acting and image makes audience can easily involve in the movie. By choosing the right character is enhancing audience expectation and involvement.
Leung Yuen Fung 10320992
Oh this is “Love in a Puff” again! Luckily your have introduced some new ideas in your review, such as the choice of characters (intertexuality), and with more emphasis on the emerging communicative channels (i.e., text-messaging and facebook). You may elaborate this point a little bit further, by referring to the ways the characters engaged in these communication practices (such as frequency, time, venue and purpose of sending SMS).
ReplyDeleteOne of your arguments attracts my attention, that is the puff as a wish of marriage, a sign of happy ending for a romance story. In fact, the smoking scenes always bring me to a status of ambivalence and “being lost”. I have never related it to marriage before! Our difference is an evident of “active audience” and “polysemic text”, haha.
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ReplyDeleteAccording to the frequency of sending SMS, it reflects the importance of mobile culture and the shift of communication pattern nowadays. In the film, it shows sending SMS become the main communication method in this generation. Using SMS can also add romantic in a relationship. For example: Chun Giu always felt happy when she had received Chi Ming SMS. Chi Ming also feels less embarrassed when he showed his love to Chun.
ReplyDeleteBY Kristy