Love in a Puff

cover

Year of release: 2010

Genre: romantic comedy

Director: Edmond Pang

Producers: Leung Kai-Yun, Edmond Pang

Writers: Edmond Pang

Cinematography: Jason Kwan

Editing: Wenders Li

Music: Wong Ai-Lun, Janet Yung

Stars: Shawn Yu, Miriam Yeung, Cheung Tat-Ming, Chiu Tien-You, Miu Fei-Lam, Jo Kuk, Vincent Kok, Charmaine Fong, Sharon Luk, Roy Szeto

Rated III for language

This movie is available to purchase at www.sensasian.com

Sensasian

Movie Review Index
Main Page

Love in a Puff  Love in a Puff

Love in a Puff  Love in a Puff

Like the myriad of chain-smoked cigarettes that figure so prominently into its' story, Edmond Pang's romantic comedy Love in a Puff is lightweight and wisps away into the air, ending up not leaving much of a lasting impression, but still managing to provide a nice bit of enjoyment while it lasts.

Since the Hong Kong government banned smoking in most public buildings and areas in 2007, nicotine fiends have taken to a practice known as "hot potting", where tobacco enthusiasts congregate in back alleys to get their fix. The hodge-podge nature of the groups, where the stories and jokes told are often just as enjoyable to the participants as the cancer sticks themselves, sometimes lead to unexpected relationships. Love in a Puff focuses on the first week of one of these relationships: Jimmy (Shawn Yu) and Cherie (Miriam Yeung) seem to be growing attached to each other, but their current and past dating history threatens to put a stop to their courtship.

Even though he primarily works in comedies, Edmond Pang is known for planting in dark and/or mature themes in his films, such as his critically lauded 2001 debut You Shoot I Shoot, which is a canny (and very funny) take on the tired hitman genre. Despite Love in a Puff's Category III rating, though, this is probably Pang's most accessible film to date. The rating (which is basically Hong Kong's version of NC-17) was given to the movie ostensibly for its' heavy use of Cantonese swear words, particularly "diu", which is roughly the equivalent of "fuck". Some have also surmised that the "excessive" tobacco use also played a factor in generating the harsher rating, as the Hong Kong government has been publically trying to dissuade film-makers from featuring characters who prominently smoke.

At any rate, both of the leads do a good job, which goes a long way to making the movie more palatable to watch, especially for a reviewer such as myself who doesn't count watching romantic comedies among his favorite activities. Even though I would still not consider myself a Miriam Yeung fan, it is nice to see her moving beyond the "cute but dumb" stereotype she's portrayed in many of her previous roles like the Love Undercover series and to not be subjected to her screeching out every other line of dialogue.

In the end, though, it feels like Pang could have went a bit further with these characters and explored their relationship more, resulting in a more well-rounded film. Pang does include a post-credits scene that hints at what becomes of Jimmy and Cherie's initial romance, but this method comes off more as clumsy and tacked-on than integral to the story. However, Pang's methods do pose a question that warrants some thought to the film nerds out there: in this day and age, where relationships can be made or broken in a matter of days (or even hours) via text messages or Facebook status updates, is the traditional structure of a romantic comedy still valid? While Pang doesn't answer the query, the fact that something even semi-deep is brought up inside of what is usually fluffy no-brainer fare showcases why he's a Hong Kong director to keep your eyes on.

RATING: 6