Hot Summer Days

全城热恋  热辣辣

Hong Kong/China/US, 2010, colour, 2.35:1, 92 mins.

Directors: Chen Guohui 陈国辉 [Tony Chan], Xia Yongkang 夏永康 [Wing Shya].

Rating: 7/10.

Fox International’s first foray into Chinese-language cinema is a slick, feel-good date movie.

STORY

China and Hong Kong, the present day, summer. As temperatures soar well over 40°C, five love stories develop. In Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, out-of-work classical pianist Li Yan (Liu Ruoying) by chance starts an SMS friendship with Hong Kong chauffeur Hua (Zhang Xueyou), a widower with a young daughter (Zheng Kelin). In Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, China, smalltown toy-factory worker Xiaoqi (Yang Ying) tests the romantic interest of local boy Xiaofang (Jing Boran). In Hong Kong, writer Wasabi (Xu Ruoxian) tries to reignite the romantic fires of a sushi master chef (Wu Zuyan). In Beijing, fashion photographer Leslie Guan (Duan Yihong) finds his sight failing after insulting model Zhou Yuanyuan (Wei Shiya) and sets out with his assistant, Dafu (Fu Xinbo), to make amends. And in Hong Kong, electrician Wei (Xie Tingfeng) meets mysterious biker chick Dingdang (Xu Xiyuan).

REVIEW

Though a couple of the stories are set on the Mainland, and there’s a broad range of pan-Chinese talent up on the screen – Liu Ruoying 刘若英 [René Liu], Xu Xiyuan 徐熙媛 [Barbie Hsu] and Xu Ruoxuan 徐若瑄 [Vivian Hsu] from Taiwan, Fu Xinbo 付辛博 and Jing Boran 井柏然 (from boyband BoBo) and Duan Yihong 段奕宏 from China – the gravitational and emotional centres of Fox International’s first Chinese-language production are essentially in Hong Kong, where most of the behind-camera talent also hails from. Cameos (credited and uncredited) by people like Zhang Manyu 张曼玉 [Maggie Cheung] and Cai Zhuoyan 蔡卓妍 [Charlene Choi] also enhance the movie’s dominant Hong Kong flavour.

Though none of the five stories criss-crosses, the one featuring Duan, which starts in Beijing and later shifts south to Shenzhen, seems the most isolated from the pack and is certainly the bleakest, though a clever twist at the end gives it a warmer, more southerly slant.

Easily the most engaging and human is that between Zhang Xueyou 张学友 [Jacky Cheung] and Liu, with both (now middle-aged) actors playing warmly and relaxedly together, giving a strong central spine to the movie. So, too, on a younger level, that between Xie Tingfeng 谢霆锋 [Nicholas Tse] and Xu Xiyuan, with the latter (almost unrecognisable as a sassy biker chick) creating even more heat to add to the perspiration-drenched bodies on screen. Least engaging is the fabricated foodie-romance between Wu Yanzu 吴彦祖 [Daniel Wu] and Xu Ruoxuan: though it’s in line with the undeclared-love theme of all the stories, the two actors strike no special sparks.

In terms of discovery, however, the film belongs to Shanghai-born, Hong Kong-based model Yang Ying 杨颖 [Angelababy] who convincingly transforms herself into a pigtailed factory worker in smalltown China and matches the affecting simplicity of her segment’s direction, which is notably “purer” than the sleek look (courtesy US-born, Australia-based d.p. Sion Michel) of the rest of the film. Perpetual cross-cutting between the various stories initially works against emotional involvement but the movie does manage to build a lump in the viewer’s throat by the end.

[The film’s title literally means “The Whole City Is Hot with Love: Burning Hot”. In China, the handle was not used.]

CREDITS

Presented by Huayi Brothers Media (CN), Fox International Productions (US), Star Television Asia (HK). Produced by Hot Summer Pictures (HK).

Script: Chen Guohui [Tony Chen], He Minwen. Photography: Sion Michel. Editing: Li Dongquan [Wenders Li]. Music: Zhong Sitai, Bao Yizheng. Production design: Sean Kunjambu. Art direction: Feng Shufen. Costume design: Sean Kunjambu. Sound: Martin Chappell. Visual effects: Christopher Bremble (Base FX). Bike stunts: Li Zhaoguang.

Cast: Xie Tingfeng [Nicholas Tse] (Wei), Zhang Xueyou [Jacky Cheung] (Hua, chauffeur), Liu Ruoying [René Liu] (Li Yan), Xu Ruoxuan [Vivian Hsu] (Wasabi), Xu Xiyuan [Barbie Hsu] (Dingdang), Duan Yihong (Leslie Guan), Fu Xinbo (Dafu), Jing Boran (Xiaofang), Yang Ying [Angelababy] (Xiaoqi), Wu Yanzu [Daniel Wu] (sushi chef), Wei Shiya (Zhou Yuanyuan), Yu Wenle [Shawn Yue] (tattoo master), Liu Jiahui [Gordon Liu] (Hui), He Zhuoyan (Xiaoli, factory girl), Liu Jinshan (shop owner), Chen Zicong (taxi driver), Lv Yan (supermodel), Dai Xiaohe (factory owner), Xu Huangli (piano girl), Zhang Manyi [Maggie Cheung] (mysterious customer), Cai Yizhi (Hua’s boss), Yang Qi (reporter), Chen Guo [Fruit Chan] (ice-cream seller), Cai Zhuoyan [Charlene Choi] (ice-cream customer), Zheng Kelin (Strawberry, Hua’s daughter), Rong Zu’er [Joey Yung], Chen Jianzhou, Lin Haifeng [Jan Lamb] (fish voices).

Release: China, 11 Feb 2010; Hong Kong, 18 Feb 2010; US, 1 Oct 2010.

(Review originally published on Film Business Asia, 17 May 2010.)