Saturday, January 6, 2018

New Year, New Ambivalence

If You Are the One begins and ends - as all romcoms must - with a broad satire of investor capitalism. OK honestly it's a little odd but not because of the content - any number of Chinese films express anxiety about a changing society in much this way - but because the scene is also about a bright future secured for tricksters like Qin Fen (Ge You) through the shortsightedness of others.

The rest of the film meanwhile is infatuated with honesty. At first because Qin and Xiaoxiao Liang (Shu Qi) are attracted to each other on account of being brutally frank about their shortcomings and later because honesty with themselves allows them to push past said flaws. Well, sort of. Qin's obviously eternally a huckster. And they use each other mercilessly along the way without always being upfront about it.

It is refreshing in a way that the film itself is honest. This isn't the sort of romcom that wraps up poor behaviour in sentimental trappings and expects you buy it as romance, although it alternates between showing the emotional impact of their acting out and playing it for laughs.

When it does the former it is achingly true to its characters' feelings. In one scene Xiaoxiao is having it out with her previous lover. They're sitting at a table, across from each other and their earlier conversation has been captured in close-ups. But in the moment when Xiaoxiao expresses her anger she gets up to pour a drink and the camera cuts to a wider shot of her arm and the drink before it cuts again to an even wider shot of her with her back to the camera and her lover looking back at her while she rages. It's like something out of a Mizoguchi film. Her anger and sadness is perfectly captured but her desire for distance is also conveyed and respected.

In some ways I can't help but feel like I've been conned by the film. Qin's dating classified is awful! He's awful! Xiaoxiao's almost equally awful! However while the film may buy into some of their dubious POVs it doesn't expect me to think of them as good people per se. If You Are the One just expects empathy.