Love in the Puff (2012)

Love in the Puff (2012)

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJxJZI7i9nw

Love in the Puff (2012) is directed by Pang Ho-Cheung. The film is the sequel of Love in a Puff (2010). The leading actor and actresses are Shawn Yue, Miriam Yeung and Mini Yang. The story is about the love affairs of the ex-couple Jimmy (casted by Shawn Yue) and Cherie (casted by Miriam Yeung) and their new partners. Jimmy broke up with Cherie because Jimmy has to move to Beijing for work and the misunderstandings between themselves. Later, Cherie also flew to Beijing for work. Both of them have started new relationships with local Beijing residents. Jimmy and Cherie meet each other in Beijing and started to struggle with their new relationships and the ex-relationship.

“Auteur Theory” of Andrew Sarris (1962, quoted in) that the director has the rights to manipulate and control the production of the film. The theory is applicable in the film Love in the Puff because the director, Pang Ho-Cheung, is the original author of the film. The following would discuss the applications of three premises of the theory in Pang’s case.

Firstly, the technique is refers to the tools and ability to create a film that is technically competent (Sarris, 1962, quoted in Nelmes, 2003). Pang is able to create the film Love in the Puff in a form of localness successfully. The film is filmed with competent techniques, including the proficient of sound/ music making, camera techniques and acting of actors.

Secondly, the personal style points out the characteristics of the director which reflected in his films (Sarris, 1962,quoted in Nelmes, 2003). The biggest characteristic of Pang Ho-Cheung is black comedy in his films. Black comedy is a kind of humor which penetrates with ironic meaning. The wording usage of his films is always sarcastic and ironic, for instance, one of Cherie’s narration is “we would fall in love with bastards in our long life”(成世人流流長，總會愛上幾個人渣). It is used to describe Jimmy which in a very negative manner. Also, the theme and narrative of the movie is to satirize Hong Kongers go back to China to find their “future”, including their career and love affairs. However, in the ending of the story, Jimmy and Cherie reunited as a couple. It can be decoded as China women or men are not suitable for Hong Kongers.

Thirdly, the “interior meaning” may be interpreted as the worldview or vision of the director, the approach to the subjects and the angle to tackle it (Sarris, 1962, quoted in Nelmes, 2003). Pang produced the film in Hong Kong context. For instance, he has adopted Canton foul language, slangs and gags which can be understood by Hong Kongers only. Moreover, the characters in Pang’s story are very typical, for example the personalities of Cherie is a typical Hong Kong woman who is high-salary breadwinner but not able to find a man elder than her, which is commonly find in Hong Kong. These women are called “spinster”(剩女). The immature personality of Jimmy is also produced a typical image of Hong Kong male in younger generations. These typical images of characters helped to construct the localness feeling of the film.

In addition, the Schreibe Theory of David Kipen (2006) argued that the screenwriter as the principal author of a film, but not the director. In this case, Pang is not only the director of Love in the Puff, he is also one of the screenwriter. From these two theories, they proved that Pang is the original author of the film and the most powerful person to manipulate the film.

In conclusion, the Auteur Theory is applicable to show the originality of the director’s work. The Schreibe Theory further consolidates the authorship of Pang in the film Love in the Puff.

Reference:
Nelmes, J. (2003). An introduction to film studies. (3rd ed., pp. 13-140). Routledge.

Tsang Hoi Yu, Helen

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