Office (2015 Hong Kong film)

Office

Film poster
Traditional 華麗上班族
Simplified 华丽上班族
Mandarin Huá Lì Shàng Bān Zú
Cantonese Waa4 Lai6 Seong2 Baan1 Zeok6
Directed by Johnnie To
Produced by Johnnie To
Sylvia Chang
Screenplay by Sylvia Chang
Based on Design for Living 
by Sylvia Chang
Starring Chow Yun-fat
Sylvia Chang
Eason Chan
Tang Wei
Music by Lo Tayu
Keith Chan Fai-young
Cinematography Cheng Siu-Keung
Edited by David Richardson
Production
company
Edko Films
Beijing Hairun Pictures
Zhejiang Unique Media
LeVision Pictures
Sun Entertainment Culture
Media Asia Films
Milkyway Image
China Movei Channel
IQIYI Motion Pictures
Huaxia Film Distribution
Distributed by Edko Films
Release dates
  • 2 September 2015 (2015-09-02) (China)
  • 24 September 2015 (2015-09-24) (Hong Kong)
Running time
117 minutes[1]
Country Hong Kong
China
Language Cantonese
Mandarin

Office is a 2015 Hong Kong-Chinese musical comedy-drama film produced and directed by Johnnie To and starring Chow Yun-fat, Sylvia Chang, Eason Chan and Tang Wei. The film is an adaptation of the 2008 play, Design for Living, which was created by and starred Chang.[2][3] Office premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival[4] and was theatrically released on 2 September 2015 in China and 24 September in Hong Kong in 3D.[5][6]

Plot

Billion-dollar company Jones & Sunn is going public. Chairman Ho Chung-ping (Chow Yun-fat) has promised CEO Winnie Cheung (Sylvia Chang), who has been his mistress for more than twenty years, to become a major shareholder of the company. As the IPO team enters the company to audit its accounts, a series of inside stories start to be revealed.

Lee Seung (Wang Ziyi), a new hire at Jones & Sunn, brings with him youthful ideals and dreams. Within the neoliberal market, the logic of intrigue rules, complicated by entanglements of love-hate relationships, which weaves a power play and a pathos-laden tragedy inside the office.

Cast

Critical reception

Office have received positive reviews. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times refers it as "One of the best-directed movies that you can see in New York right now".[7] Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club gave the film a score of B+ praising the film as dazzlingly and director Johnnie To's cutting movement and stunningly composing figures.[8] Tom Huddleston of Time Out gave the film a score of 5 out of 5 stars praising its stylish dance and song sequences, catchy lyrics and its screenplay by Sylvia Chang as a keenly observed, spiky treatise on office politics.[9]

James Marsh of Twitch Film gave the film a mixed review praising the imagination that the staging captures, but criticizes the lack of development of Hong Kong's working development and director To's lack of vision and clear intent.[10] Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter praises the film's lavish decorations and technical accomplishments, but criticizes its simplistic screenplay and being unfocused, with little development of the relationships between the characters.[11]

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations
Ceremony Category Recipient Outcome
35th Hong Kong Film Awards[12] Best Actress Sylvia Chang Nominated
Best Art Direction William Chang, Alfred Yau Won
Best Makeup & Costume Design William Chang, Lui Fung-shan Nominated
Best Sound Design David Richardson, Andrew Tuason,
Wu Shu-yao
Nominated
Best Visual Design Ken Law, Tommy Cheung Nominated
Best Original Film Score Lo Tayu, Keith Chan Fai-young Won
52nd Golden Horse Awards'[13] Best Actress Sylvia Chang Nominated
Best Adapted Screenplay Sylvia Chang Nominated
Best Art Direction William Chang, Alfred Yau Won
Best Makeup & Costume Design William Chang, Lui Fung-shan Nominated
Best Original Film Song Song: Why Bother (何必呢)

Composer: Lo Tayu
Lyricist: Lin Xi
Singer: Eason Chan

Nominated
Best Sound Effects Andrew Tuason, Wu Shu-yao,
David Richardson
Nominated
22nd Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards[14] Best Film Office Nominated
Best Director Johnnie To Nominated
Best Actress Sylvia Chang Nominated
Film of Merit Office Won

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 14, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.