[Reflection] 幸福在2010 – First Chinese Movie – Week 8
I was super duper happy when I came across this movie 幸福在2010 (Happiness in 2010) at the hotspring club because I was actually able to understand almost the entire thing! It’s a romantic comedy based in Shanghai so the slower pace, less use of dialogue vs facial expressions, and the Chinese subtitles helped me get into a pretty funny movie.
The basic synopsis is that there is this guy who lives in Shanghai, works in IT with a female boss that hates him, and hasn’t had a girlfriend in forever. All of a sudden a young happy-go-lucky girl shows up at his door and asks to stay over for three days. Then begins a long struggle to co-exist involving beer, monkeys, lizards, and a stripper pole. The acting is okay but the unique situations are pretty hilarious.
The duo also play off each other really well and is central to the whole film. The guy spends too much time constrained to the rules and not willing to live for his passion today, rather preferring to work and one day “retire” while the girl prefers to travel the world, make new friends, and enjoy life every day. In the end the guy is finally able to reach internal peace with himself and doesn’t end up an overworked white collar middleman.
It’s interesting to think if this had any broader implications on the state of China today too…
