Chinese film explores love from all sides

With Los Angeles experiencing record-breaking high temperatures last week, the recently released Hot Summer Days, has hit the city at just the right time. Directed by Tony Chan and Wing Shya, the film includes 16 of China’s top stars, from Hong Kong to the mainland.

Hot and heavy · Hot Summer Days focuses on love stories between people of various classes, from blue collar workers dreaming of better lives to a writer (Vivian Hsu) trying to woo a sushi cook (Daniel Wu). - Photos courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures

Unlike a lot of Chinese films, Hot Summer Days received some foreign assistance. 20th Century Fox stepped forward to start international production and Hot Summer Days has become the first Chinese language film produced by the studio.

Although Hot Summer Days will not be released in Los Angeles until Friday, USC’s Outside the Box [Office] and the East Asian Studies Center held a preview screening at the USC School of Cinematic Arts on Sunday. Audiences experienced innocent love with laughter and tears, and were inspired by the idea that even the hottest days can be spent in a romantic tryst.

The movie is set during the hottest summer on record in Hong Kong, with temperatures reaching an astonishing 113 degrees Fahrenheit. As the government warns citizens to prepare for the abnormal weather, and passions start growing with the temperature, seven unbelievable stories come true.

Chauffeur Wah (Jacky Cheung) and foot masseuse Li Yan (Rene Liu) are average working-class citizens who dream of pursuing other, more exciting careers: the chauffeur dreams of racing Ferraris and the masseuse of being a pianist. Their lives intertwine when both suffer from heatstrokes  and are sent to the hospital.  A wrong text message connects the two dreamers’ fates, and a love story begins. In the text message world, they resume their dreams. The big question is whether their love will endure when they discover each others’ true identity.

At the same time, an air conditioning repairman, Ah Wai, (Nicholas Tse) finds himself enamored with biker chick Ding Dong (Vivian Hsu).

Young boy Da Fu (Xinbo Fu) bets his boss that the most beautiful girl (Angelababy) in the factory next door, will become his girlfriend. To prove his love, the girl asks him to stand outside in the heat for 100 days. Halfway through, the young boy witnesses the girl being taken out in her boss’ car, jeopardizing his determination to withstand the heat to win the heart of the one he loves.

All of these plots intertwine with many funny and moving moments — the film could be considered a hybrid between Love Actually and the romantic storyline of Inception. The film’s directors utilize the narrative structure of the former and decorate the story with time and space-shifting elements of the latter, but this ultimately does not make any creative breakthrough.

The forced mixture of these two creative movies did not help Chan and Shya win the audience’s hearts. Instead, audiences in China, where the movie was released earlier this year, criticized the familiar story elements. Many Chinese audiences said they expected the film to have an original concept, especially because of the cooperation between Chinese and American studios.

Although the construction of the narrative did not bring audiences extra surprise, the all-star cast never let the audience down.

Tse abandons his usual heroic figure and does a fine job as a simple handyman. Liu creates a rougher portrayal of her character, while adding a working-class charm to the role.

Although it has problems because of  limitations in storytelling, the exceptional cast elevates the film beyond its weak narrative structure.