Spicy Love Soup
Encyclopedia
Spicy Love Soup is a 1997 Chinese film
Cinema of China
The Chinese-language cinema has three distinct historical threads: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. Since 1949 the cinema of mainland China has operated under restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television and...
directed by Zhang Yang and written by Zhang, Liu Fendou
Liu Fendou
Liu Fendou is a Chinese film director, screenwriter and film producer.- Biography :Born in Beijing, Liu Fendou spent some time in the United States in his youth doing "generally doing a whole lot of nothing" until returning to Beijing in 1995.Upon his return to China, Liu entered into the film...
, Cai Shangjun
Cai Shangjun
Cai Shangjun is a Chinese film director and screenwriter. Cai graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in 1992. Since then, his major work has been that of a professional screenwriter. Cai was part of the team, along with Zhang Yang, Diao Yi'nan, and Liu Fendou, that co-wrote the screenplays...
, and Diao Yi'nan
Diao Yi'nan
Diao Yinan is a Chinese director, screenwriter and occasional actor.-Biography:A graduate of the Central Academy of Drama in 1992, Diao has worked as a screenwriter with directors Shi Runjiu and Zhang Yang...
based on a story by Zhang and Peter Loehr
Peter Loehr
Peter Loehr, born 1967.Peter Loehr established Imar Film Co., Ltd., China's first independent film company in 1997. Imar was China's first true, multi-faceted independent, producing, distributing and marketing all of their films entirely in-house...
. Spicy Love Soup was produced by Loehr's Imar Film Company
Imar Film Company
Imar Film Company is an independent film production company in China. Imar was established in 1997 by American producer Peter Loehr.Imar It was the first legal independent film company in the PRC. Imar handles production, distribution and marketing of films in partnership with Xin Film Studio...
, primarily from Taiwanese
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
sources, with the auspices of the state-run Xi'an Film Studio.
The film is Zhang's directorial debut and would prove to be a launching pad for those both in front and behind the cameras. Screenwriters Cai Shangjun
Cai Shangjun
Cai Shangjun is a Chinese film director and screenwriter. Cai graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in 1992. Since then, his major work has been that of a professional screenwriter. Cai was part of the team, along with Zhang Yang, Diao Yi'nan, and Liu Fendou, that co-wrote the screenplays...
(The Red Awn
The Red Awn
The Red Awn is a 2007 Chinese film directed Cai Shangjun. The film premiered at the 2007 Pusan International Film Festival where it won the FIPRESCI Prize. The film tells the story of a father and son in China's interior Gansu province...
) and Diao Yi'nan
Diao Yi'nan
Diao Yinan is a Chinese director, screenwriter and occasional actor.-Biography:A graduate of the Central Academy of Drama in 1992, Diao has worked as a screenwriter with directors Shi Runjiu and Zhang Yang...
(Uniform
Uniform (film)
Uniform is the 2003 feature film debut of director Diao Yi'nan, who had previously worked as an established screenwriter for directors such as Zhang Yang and Shi Runjiu...
, Night Train
Night Train (2007 film)
Night Train is writer-director Diao Yi'nan's second feature film. Like his previous film, Uniform, Night Train takes place in Diao's home province of Shaanxi and was shot in and around Baoji....
) have since gone on to direct their own films, while Liu Fendou has expanded into both directing (Green Hat
Green Hat
Green Hat is a Chinese film from 2004 and the debut of screenwriter Liu Fendou. Starring Li Congxi, Liao Fan, and Dong Lifan, the film tells the story of two men, one a bank robber, and one a police officer and their shared problem of unfaithful partners...
) and film production (Zhang Yibai
Zhang Yibai
Zhang Yibai is a Chinese film director.-Directorial career:Zhang began his career in television and music videos before directing his debut, Spring Subway in 2002....
's Spring Subway
Spring Subway
Spring Subway is a 2002 Chinese romance film directed by Zhang Yibai and starring Xu Jinglei and Geng Le. Sixth Generation director Zhang Yang also plays a role. The film represents a relatively new genre in China, the artistic "commercial film" with its international urban sensibilities designed...
). The cast is also notable for the debuts of two of China's most popular actresses, Gao Yuanyuan
Gao Yuanyuan
Gao Yuanyuan is a Chinese actress.-Biography:Gao was born in Beijing on October 5, 1979 and entered the entertainment industry in 1996. Known for her fresh looks and chaste spirit, Gao, unlike other mainland Chinese actresses, did not graduate from any drama academic institutions...
and Xu Jinglei
Xu Jinglei
Xu Jinglei is an actress, director and editor most famous in her native mainland China. Xu graduated from the prestigious Beijing Film Academy in 1997. Along with Zhao Wei, Zhou Xun and Zhang Ziyi, the mainland Chinese media considers her a member of the Four Young Dan actresses...
.
The film is an anthology of sorts, and tells its story of love and life in modern Beijing through a series of five vignettes.
Spicy Love Soup was, in addition, the first film in mainland China to see a simultaneous release of a soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, consisting primarily of Taiwanese pop songs.
Second vignette
- Tang Sifu, an elderly widow
- Li Mei, her daughter
- Liu Zhao, a suitor
- Li Tang, a suitor
- Wen XingyuWen XingyuWen Xingyu was a popular comedian in mainland China. Wen is famous for his relaxing style and his talent as a senior comedian...
, a suitor
Fifth vignette
- Sun Yisheng, a young boy
- Pu CunxinPu CunxinPu Cunxin, also transliterated as Pu Quanxin is a Chinese actor. He is or was a member of the Beijing Experimental Theater Troupe.- Films :- External links :* at the Chinese Movie Database...
, his father - Lu Liping, his mother
Sixth vignette
- Shao Bing, a young man
- Xu JingleiXu JingleiXu Jinglei is an actress, director and editor most famous in her native mainland China. Xu graduated from the prestigious Beijing Film Academy in 1997. Along with Zhao Wei, Zhou Xun and Zhang Ziyi, the mainland Chinese media considers her a member of the Four Young Dan actresses...
, a young woman - Wakin ChauWakin ChauWakin Chau is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Chau's popularity has spread throughout Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and parts of Southeast Asia. He was known as Emil Chau through the 1980s and 1990s, and by 2000 he reverted to his given name Wakin...
, a neighbor
Reception
Released internationally in London's East West Film Festival in June 1998, Spicy Love Soup was generally well received by western critics. Derek Elley of VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
cited the film as being a pioneering example of the "well directed" Chinese movie, that nevertheless doesn't fall into the camp of "artier" fare.
The film was also well received in mainland China, where it had been released a year earlier, where it became one of the most successful independent films released domestically.
External links
- Spicy Love Soup at the Chinese Movie Database