15th New York Asian Film Festival

Jun 22 - Jul 9, 2016

Photo: China Film Media Asia Audio Video Distribution Co.

North American Premiere

Love in the Buff

春嬌與志明

In 2010, Pang Ho-cheung's Love in a Puff saw two people meet in the alley behind their office during smoke breaks and fall in love. Shot quickly, with a sharp-edged script, and featuring two likeable stars – Miriam Yeung (Hong Kong's comedy queen) and Shawn Yue (Infernal Affairs 2) – the breezy film became an unlikely hit. This semi-sequel examines what happens after as the two lovebirds try to make their relationship work. When we last saw beauty-product salesgirl Cherie (Yeung) and ad-man Jimmy (Yue), everything was hearts and flowers. But now they are living together and driving each other nuts, so they start a cycle of breaking up and getting back together again. Soon work has them moving north to Beijing, both with new relationships. Despite the assurance that the city's size will stop them from ever running into each other, they manage to anyway—and suddenly they're cheating on their partners. They still argue like crazy, but the kids can't help it: they're in love. Unlike the sloppy, lazy 'romantic' comedies coming out of Hollywood these days, Love in the Buff is a movie that believes in true love, but it also knows that it takes more than a musical montage and a race to the train station to achieve it. Real love is worth fighting for, and here, the two leads fight for it with everything they've got.

Director: Pang Ho-cheung
Cast: Xu Zheng, Mimi Yang, Shawn Yue, Miriam Yeung
Languages: Cantonese with English subtitles
2012; 106 min.; DCP

SCHEDULE:

Thursday June 30, 6:00pm
Film Society of Lincoln Center

Appearance by Miriam Yeung

Star Asia Award
Miriam Yeung
楊千嬅

The daughter of an English teacher who herself trained and worked as a nurse, Miriam Yeung epitomizes the anything-is-possible spirit of Hong Kong. Since winning third prize in a TVB singing competition in 1995, Yeung has released 40 albums, acted in 35 feature films and become one of Hong Kong's leading charity ambassadors. After starting her movie career in 1998 in James Yuen's Rumble Ages, Yeung became a major box office draw in 2001-2 with her charismatic performances as quirky girl-next-doors in three offbeat comedies directed by Joe Ma: Feel 100% II, Dummy Mommy Without a Baby and Love Undercover. Her new prominence was recognized at the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, where she was presented with the Most Popular Artiste Award. For several years she balanced a career refining her natural skill as a comedienne while challenging herself in more demanding roles, including Fruit Chan's dark horror Dumplings in 2004. However, unable to find a persona that again resonated with Hong Kong audiences, she focused on her music career. She found that reconnection in 2010 — after a turning point in her personal life: marriage — when she started a creative partnership with Pang Ho-cheung, taking both their careers to another level. In the 18-rated romance Love in a Puff, Yeung played foul-mouthed cosmetics salesgirl Cherie who starts a relationship with an advertising executive after city-wide smoking regulations throw the chain-smokers together. Two years later, Yeung won Best Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards for the more poignant Beijing-set follow-up, Love in the Buff, also a major box office hit in both Hong Kong and mainland China. Yeung has continued to work with Pang, most notably on Aberdeen, and with another chronicler of modern Hong Kong, Johnnie To, on Don't Go Breaking My Heart 2. In 2015, two decades after launching her entertainment career, Yeung headlined the biggest local hit of the year, Little Big Master, based on the true story of a kindergarten teacher fighting for the education of five underprivileged kids in the New Territories. At this year's NYAFF, we present her newest film, Adam Wong's ambitious mid-life crisis romantic drama She Remembers, He Forgets.