Romancing in Thin Air
For people who are attached, Valentine's Day is a time for romance, but for movie companies, it is an opportunity to reap huge profits from lovers. Over last year's cupid season, Eternal Moment, a romantic movie starring Li Yapeng and Xu Jinglei, had a good harvest, taking in $20.39 million in box office revenue over two weeks release. As this year's Valentine's Day draws near, Chinese films are lining up to take their share of dinner-and-a-movie profits.
This year's competition to win lovers' hearts at the box office is shaping up, with nearly half of the flicks targeting romantics dropping out of the race in advance. There are still four romantic movies, Romancing in Thin Air, I Do, Love, and Truth or Dare, marching forward to the cinemas.
Fierce rivalry
While they all focus on the same themes, each of the four films takes its own spin on the topic.
Hitting theaters today, Romancing in Thin Air is the first in the pack to make its debut. The film is another cooperative work by director Johnnie To and playwright Ka-Fai Wai. As their previous romantic movie Don't Go Breaking My Heart earned nearly $15.38 million in box office revenue last year, Romancing is expected to hold its own in the cinema battle to win moviegoers' hearts.
The story focuses on a romance that grows between superstar Michael (Louis Lok) and his fan Sue (Sammi Cheng), a hotel owner in Shangri-La, Yunnan Province. After the two meet in Shangri-La, Michael and Sue fall in love. But before you can say "happily ever after," their pasts come back to haunt them, leaving them to struggle with how to forge a new life together.
Aside from the plot, the film's idyllic setting of Shangri-La may also charm audiences. As most of us are captive in noisy cities, a cinematic journey to the pristine, enchanting town, where we may escape from the crowds and lose ourselves in romance, is surely something we all could use.
In contrast to Romancing, I Do, directed by Sun Zhou, focuses on real problems facing today's city dwellers. At age 32, Tang Weiwei (Li Bingbing) is a successful career woman with a high income and a good education, and she's looking for Mr Right. With very little love experience and high dating standards, she has no success, then suddenly finds herself being chased by two men at once.
No matter what Tang chooses to do, the hot topic of thirty-something career women looking for love, along with the fashions donned by Li in the movie, is perhaps going to be the attraction for many moviegoers.
Taiwanese movie Love is the most colorful movie among the four, interweaving three romantic stories spanning different age groups and classes. While romance is certainly a main focus in the film, friendship and family bonds are also given due attention. This film will have audiences contemplating subject matter like love built on material desire, one-night stands, and the taboo of older women dating younger men. The movie's director, Doze Niu, recently made a name for himself with gangster movie Monga, which he directed and starred in.
Truth or Dare, whose name comes from the popular game favored by today's young urbanites, sees a couple brought together after playing it at a party, and follows them through their unfolding romance. However, lies are contained in the "truth," while the "dare" comes with a price. Actor Wen Zhang, who rose to prominence with recent film Love is Not Blind and TV drama Dwelling Narrowness, is sure to attract lots of his fans to the cinema.
A scene from "LOVE"
Great expectations
Although most of the movies have not yet been released, the level of competition is to some extent clear. According to a survey conducted by Sina Weibo, as of February 7, 53 percent of the more than 10,000 participants said Love was the film they were most excited to see. The other three romantic films each received about one-eighth of the vote.
Wu Hehu, spokesperson for Shanghai United Circuit, which owns several cinemas, also looks forward to seeing Love. "I expect it to be very good. Its subject matter addresses the experiences of today's young people, and I know director Doze Niu would do a very good job with that," said Wu, who thinks Love may have an effect on audiences that recalls Love is Not Blind, but doubts it will rake in as much at the box office.
Even though Love will be released later than Romancing and I Do, Wu does not think that will be a disadvantage. "After Valentine's Day, no big blockbusters are coming to cinemas until February 21. Love has enough time to receive an audience."
Something for everyone
Single moviegoers need not shrink at the idea of catching a film during the lovers' season. According to Sina Weibo's survey, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island is the second most anticipated movie of February, with 20 percent of participants saying they plan to see it.
"I have been waiting so long for Journey 2 to come out, and the news that it is going to be in 3D makes me even more excited," said a netizen surnamed Qiu, who added that while he'll probably take his girlfriend to one or two romantic movies, Journey 2 is a must-see.
"Valentine's season is a natural time to go to the theater, and audiences already flock to the cinemas during this period," Yu Chao, manager of Capital Cinema, told Legal Mirror, a Beijing-based newspaper. "If there are romantic movies for the occasion, there will be an audience for them. And if there are other movies, there will also be an audience."