Love in a Puff (2010)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Love in a Puff is a Hong Kong film about a boy and girl starring Miriam Yeung Chin Wah as Cherrie and Shawn Yue as Jimmy. Jimmy is the young 20 something, nonchalant, advertise pushing boy while Cherrie is the older 20 something, Sephora make up selling girl full of sass. When Hong Kong starts to throw down the hammer on smoking, the areas in which people can smoke start to dwindle. Smoking areas become dens for these new outcasts as they huddle in cramped alley ways. With fire between their lips the smoking breaks offer an opportunity to swap ghost stories and catch up on the latest gossip. One day Cherrie mets Jimmy for the first time and as he lights her cigarette he the also lights the flame in her heart. Aggressively she gets Jimmy attention by her seductive pushing and pulling. Yes, I'm into you, oh maybe I'm not. Yes, no, Yes, no, and on and on it goes because you know you like it. The idea behind this film is extremely simple but it's the exquisite execution that's worth seeing. The director Ho-Cheung Pang masterfully directs his talented actors to show, not tell; to communicate through lies and body movement. It's not an easy thing to do to show the minute instances of attraction and jealously with just a way you say something.The cinematography is great at capturing intimate moments between the two. However the constant shallow focus gets a little out of hand at times leaving some of the action out of focus. The music is also a very nice touch having a sort of floating sensation above the characters just like the smoke they exhale.Love in a Puff is a well done romantic comedy, in the showing I was watching the audience was fully enchanted by the two love birds and laughed unreservedly at the jokes. It's definitely the perfect date movie for those wishing to inhale some laughs. Who this film is not for: -People who don't like subtitles -People who take love too seriously

The girl has mauve hair, an indication of the hipness of this couple who first meet on a smoke break in a Hong Kong alleyway. He's in advertising; she sells cosmetics. And his shirt is the same color, signaling an affinity this movie seeks to explore. A Hong Kong ordinance prohibited smoking in all indoor areas. Employees began gathering in gathering cliques they called "hot pot packs" to smoke outdoors, talk, and have fun. That's the starting point. There's much camaraderie and banter -- liberally laced with profanity -- among the "hot pot pack" that includes a man with round glasses, a girl with a knit cap, a Pakistani pizza man, a little uniformed hotel bellman -- and the couple- to-be, Jimmy (Shawn Yue) and Cherie (Miriam Yeung Chin Wah). The movie begins with a dramatization of a shaggy dog story about a man locked in car trunk in a parking lot who turns out to be a ghost. There's a lot of joking round, and things stay very light, becoming just a little romantic when Jimmy joins Cherie at a costume birthday party at a Karaoke bar -- except Cherie turns out to have a boyfriend, KK (Jo Kuk).Eventually he finds out about Jimmy (and we see how much fun he and Cherie are having together) and he gets jealous. Love in a Puff shows how romantic text messaging can be -- and how it can give away secrets if spied on. And when Cherie decides to switch to Jimmy's network so her SMS fees aren't too high, Jimmy's cohorts at work say she's too aggressive. Jimmy has just had a breakup with a girlfriend at work, and Cherie is older. These are the givens that do nothing but fuel the mutual attraction.This movie excels in its constant interplay of lightness and seriousness, in the way the milieu and the social world is sketched in, and in the great chemistry between Yeung and Yue. Their dialogue is breezy and sometimes touching. Dialogue in group scenes is feisty and provocative by sometimes strict Hong Kong standards; Love in a Puff caused some controversy, which could add to its hip gloss for locals. Some of the whimsy recalls romantic moments in Wong Kar-wai, but it's all more mundane, but enough to show that Wong's tropes are far from unique and sometimes come from Hong Kong pop culture. If only Pang had taken more breaks from the sit-com charm and stepped back a bit, he might have created a bit more magic. There is a bit of that with a silhouette-and-full-moon sequence of Cherie at the 80-minute mark, when the story reaches its make-or-break get-serious point. At film's end, the couple come to some kind of commitment, with Jimmy's Land Rover stalled on an overpass, appropriately enough by making serious plans to both give up smoking, and focus on each other. The apparent triviality of the subject matter, along with the modern urban couple's difficulty with communication (despite multiple platforms) is offset by wit and keen observation of little details every step of the way. This light, cinematic, amusing movie is appealing and fresh -- and has an assured polish, along with casual touches, like the little small-screen 16mm interviews that serve as occasional commentary. All in all, Love in a Puff is a delightful little piece of fluff, as casual as its lovers try to be. One online critic listed it as one of his top movies of 2010 and characterized it as "forgettable in an unforgettable way," and that's about right. Local commentaries say the film won't work dubbed in Mandarin because its Cantonese profanities are untranslatable and had the audiences in stitches throughout. Subtleties apart, the English titles give a fair sense of this pungency. Some little SMS tricks emerge too: for instance, if you type "i n 55!W !" it looks like nonsense or code, but turn the phone upside down and it reads "I MISS U!" Of such details are Puff's flavor and charm made. After its initially rocky debut in Hong Kong due to its profanity and heavy nicotine use, Love in a Puff has breezed along the festival route, appearing in Seattle, Melbourne, Tokyo, Palm Springs, landing in April 2011 at the San Francisco International Film Festival, where it was screened for this review. The original Chinese title is Chi ming yu chun giu, which means simply Jimmy and Cherie. I was not previously familiar with the work of this prolific 2000's Hong Kong director.

Love in a Puff is a light-hearted romantic comedy examining typical romantic relationships in Hong Kong nowadays. It starts creatively and ends with a catchy song. However, the film is far from perfect because of several reasons.First, the story with some witty and authentic dialogue is not flawless. That Cherie leaves her boyfriend whom she has been with for 5 years because of a newly met male friend she fancies simply does not convince me. Her character should at least experience some emotional turmoil when she makes the decision. Also, it is unlikely for her to go to a motel with Jimmy with her luggage. Instead, she should look for a place to settle in first. Apart from this, the twist at the end seems unlikely.Second, although Miriam Yeung is able to perform naturally, her character is not three dimensional enough to showcase her acting skills. Judging from her character's tone and choice of words, the audience only sees Miriam, instead of Cherie in the movie. Miriam's character should be called Miriam. Moreover, the scene in which she argues with her husband in the bedroom is devoid of tension, which is a solid proof of her average performance.Third, the use of foul language is slightly over the top. After watching the movie, I cannot help but ask if it is necessary for most characters (a health inspector included) to use foul language so often. It seems to me that the movie is stereotyping smokers as foul-mouthed. By the way, it is interesting to observe that some members of the audience burst into laughter whenever a character uses foul language. In other words, this kind of joke does not work on everybody.Fourth, the interviews are insignificant and insipid. Indeed, most of the things they talk about in the interviews are not thought-provoking. Besides, is it necessary to show the boom mic intentionally in every interview?On the whole, Love in a Puff, at times, has a subtle insight into romantic relationships in Hong Kong nowadays, whereas it is far from perfect.

First of all, it is very subjective as I am a smoker. Second, you may find a way out if you are a non-smoker or anti-smoking, you are not the target audience of this romantic comedy.Since smoking is prohibited in all indoor area in Hong Kong, people used to smoke in the alley nearby the... workplace. In the smoking break, the cosmetic salesgirl, Cherie (Miriam Yeung) and Jimmy (Shawn Yue), they begin the relationships under this unique circumstance.From time to time, they text each other, smoke tons of cigs and hang around together. Director (Pang Ho-Cheung) flawlessly captures the habit, manner and weird things nowadays. Meanwhile, the Mandarin dialogue is sarcastic in a very roundabout way. However it couldn't be fully translated as it relates local culture.Text messaging, smoke and drinks, hang out, facebook or whatsoever. The movie reflects bundle of social behavior and interaction, it's truly a picture of the relationships between twenties / thirties. No matter how easy to communicates, they failed to express their own feeling, especially Jimmy, who does it by text messaging rather than facing each other. The natural mind-set is another enjoyable piece of the movie. Besides, the mockumentary-like video clips intersecting to the film is like a bunch of snacks or tricks. It's not bad at all, conversely, I would rather say this is essential and constructive to the plot.As a final point, Pang sets it well but hardly to say it is structured firmly. Yet, this smoking break is interesting and enjoyable.