Love in a Puff

Love in a Puff
Directed by	Pang Ho-cheung
Produced by	Subi Liang
Written by	Pang Ho-cheung Heiward Mak
Starring	Shawn Yue Miriam Yeung
Production company	A Making Film Production
Distributed by	Media Asia Distribution
Release dates	25 March 2010 (2010-03-25)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese

Love in a Puff (simplified Chinese: 志明与春娇; traditional Chinese: 志明與春嬌) is a 2010 Hong Kong romantic comedy directed by Pang Ho-cheung and starring Shawn Yue and Miriam Yeung. The plot revolves around the love story of Cherie and Jimmy, two smokers who met at an outdoor smoking area subsequent to the ban of all indoor smoking areas in Hong Kong. The film is classified as a category 3 film in Hong Kong.

Love in a Puff is one of the films which premiered in the 2010 Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Plot

Since 2007, the Hong Kong government banned smoking in all indoor areas, causing smokers from neighboring buildings to gather for cigarette breaks during office hours at trash bins with ashtrays near their work premises. The regulars started sharing small talks and dirty jokes like friends at a hot pot dinner and this community became known as the "Hot Pot Pack".

Jimmy (Yue) is an advertising executive who befriended Cherie (Yeung), a cosmetic sales girl, at a "Hot Pot Pack" shortly after Jimmy broke up with his girlfriend who cheated on him. Cherie's flirting with Jimmy during their cigarette breaks, through text messages and excursions at night eventually led to Cherie's break up with her live-in boyfriend. This sudden change in their relationship, including a failed one night stand at a love motel, caused them to confront the change in their relationship and consider whether they are viewing each other as love interests or just as companions during lonely nights.

Cast

• Miriam Yeung as Cherie, a cosmetics sales girl
• Shawn Yue as Jimmy, an advertising executive
• Cheung Tat Ming as Joseph, a hotel porter
• Miao Felin as a restaurant waitress
• Chui Tien-you as a 7-Eleven cashier
• Roy Szeto as Jimmy's colleague, an advertising executive and Patty's boyfriend
• Sharon Luk as Vivian, Jimmy's ex-girlfriend, an advertising executive
• Charmaine Fong as Patty, an advertising executive

Cameos

• Vincent Kuk as an advertising executive
• Jo Koo as Double K, Cherie's best friend
• Matt Chow as a Leisure and Cultural Services Department employee

Reception

Critics' reviews of Love in a Puff are generally positive, and the movie also received very positive feedbacks on Facebook and microblogging, causing a rebound in the box office.

Perry Lam of Muse gave a positive review, as he observes that ‘No other Hong Kong movies in recent memory give a more vivid sense of how Hong Kong people talk in real life.’ China Daily placed the film on their list of the best ten Chinese films of 2010.

Box office

Love in a Puff had a very poor opening weekend, mainly due to the Category III rating. However, positive feedbacks on Facebook and tweets resulted in a strong rebound, generating HK$5 million cumulative box office revenues after three weeks.

A sequel, titled Love in the Buff was released on 29 March 2012 with the film being set in Beijing, China. Shawn Yue and Miriam Yeung reprised their roles.

External links

• Official website
• Love in a Puff at IMDb
• LoveHKfilm.com entry
• HK cinemagic entry