16th New York Asian Film Festival

Jun 30 - Jul 16, 2017

Photo: © 2017 We Pictures Ltd; Courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment

This is Not What I Expected

喜歡你

A scrumptious pastiche of the contemporary Chinese romcom and old-school screwball comedy that delights all the senses. Mousy and accident-prone Gu Shengnan is a brilliant chef, the best-kept secret in her fancy hotel; Lu Jin is a reserved yet rude megalomaniac millionaire. In classic comedy-of-errors fashion the two have an unfortunate yet hilarious run-in (an antagonistic antithesis of the meet-cute) that makes them mortal adversaries. In a comic twist of fate, die-hard foodie Lu ends up a guest of the hotel and becomes hopelessly obsessed with Gu’s intoxicating dishes. An all-consuming love-hate relationship blossoms - with food standing in for sex - across a non-stop series of laugh riot hi-jinks as stars Zhou Dongyu and Kaneshiro Takeshi prove as brilliant and effortless a comedy duo as Hepburn and Grant (Bringing up Baby), with a wry nod to Ge You and Shu Qi (If You Are the One). A dish to be savored.

Director: Derek Hui
Cast: Lin Chiling, Ming Xi, Sun Lizhou, Kaneshiro Takeshi, Zhou Dongyu
Languages: Mandarin with English subtitles
2017; 105 min.; DCP

SCHEDULE:

Tuesday July 11, 6:00pm
Film Society of Lincoln Center

Q&A with director Derek Hui

Derek Hui
許宏宇

Derek Hui graduated from Hong Kong City University's School of Creative Media before starting his film career as an assistant editor for Teddy Chen. He got his big break working on Peter Chan's The Warlords in 2007. Since then he has edited more than 20 films including some of Chinese-language cinema's most challenging projects, such as Chen Kaige's Sacrifice (2010), Chan's Wu Xia (a.k.a. Dragon, 2010), Keanu Reaves' Man of Tai Chi (2013), Derek Yee's I Am Somebody (2015), and Renny Harlin's Jackie Chan action film Skiptrace (2016). Hui's work on Teddy Chen's Bodyguards and Assassins (2009) and Derek Tsang's Soul Mate (2016) garnered Golden Horse Award nominations. He has been nominated three times for editing at the Hong Kong Film Awards, where he holds the record as their youngest nominee. This is Not What I Expected, his starry reinvention of the Chinese romcom, is his directorial debut.