| Office | |||||||||||
| Native Name: |
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| Director: | Johnnie To | ||||||||||
| Screenplay: | Sylvia Chang | ||||||||||
| Producer: | Johnnie To Sylvia Chang | ||||||||||
| Starring: | Chow Yun-fat Sylvia Chang Eason Chan Tang Wei | ||||||||||
| Cinematography: | Cheng Siu-Keung | ||||||||||
| Editing: | David Richardson | ||||||||||
| Music: | Lo Tayu Keith Chan Fai-young | ||||||||||
| Studio: | Edko Films Beijing Hairun Pictures Zhejiang Unique Media LeVision Pictures Sun Entertainment Culture Media Asia Films Milkyway Image China Movie Channel IQIYI Motion Pictures Huaxia Film Distribution | ||||||||||
| Distributor: | Edko Films | ||||||||||
| Runtime: | 117 minutes[1] | ||||||||||
| Country: | Hong Kong China | ||||||||||
| Language: | Cantonese Mandarin | ||||||||||
Office is a 2015 Hong Kong-Chinese musical comedy-drama film produced and directed by Johnnie To and starring Chow Yun-fat, Sylvia Chang, Eason Chan and Tang Wei. The film is an adaptation of the 2008 play Design for Living, which was created by and starred Chang.[2] [3] Office premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival[4] and was theatrically released in China on 2 September 2015 and in Hong Kong in 3D on 24 September 2015.[5] [6]
Billion-dollar company Jones & Sunn is going public. Chairman Ho Chung-ping (Chow Yun-fat) has promised CEO Winnie Cheung (Sylvia Chang), who has been his mistress for more than twenty years, that she will become a major shareholder of the company. As the IPO team enters the company to audit its accounts, a series of inside stories starts to be revealed.
Lee Xiang (Wang Ziyi), a new hire at Jones & Sunn, brings with him youthful ideals and dreams. Within the neoliberal market, the logic of intrigue rules, complicated by entanglements of love-hate relationships, which weaves a power play and a pathos-laden tragedy inside the office.
Office has received positive reviews. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times refers it as "One of the best-directed movies that you can see in New York right now".[7] Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club gave the film a score of B+ praising the film as dazzling and highlighting director Johnnie To's cutting movement and stunningly composed figures.[8] Tom Huddleston of Time Out gave the film a score of 5 out of 5 stars praising its stylish dance and song sequences, catchy lyrics and its screenplay by Sylvia Chang as a keenly observed, spiky treatise on office politics.[9]
James Marsh of Twitch Film gave the film a mixed review praising the imagination that the staging captures, but criticising the lack of development of Hong Kong's working development and director To's lack of vision and clear intent.[10] Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter praises the film's lavish decorations and technical accomplishments, but criticizes its simplistic screenplay and being unfocused, with little development of the relationships between the characters.[11]
| Awards and nominations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ceremony | Category | Recipient | Outcome |
| 35th Hong Kong Film Awards[12] | Best Actress | Sylvia Chang | |
| Best Art Direction | William Chang, Alfred Yau | ||
| Best Makeup & Costume Design | William Chang, Lui Fung-shan | ||
| Best Sound Design | David Richardson, Andrew Tuason, Wu Shu-yao | ||
| Best Visual Design | Ken Law, Tommy Cheung | ||
| Best Original Film Score | Lo Tayu, Keith Chan Fai-young | ||
| 52nd Golden Horse Awards'[13] | Best Actress | Sylvia Chang | |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Sylvia Chang | ||
| Best Art Direction | William Chang, Alfred Yau | ||
| Best Makeup & Costume Design | William Chang, Lui Fung-shan | ||
| Best Original Film Song | Song: Why Bother (何必呢)Composer: Lo Tayu Lyricist: Lin Xi Singer: Eason Chan | ||
| Best Sound Effects | Andrew Tuason, Wu Shu-yao, David Richardson | ||
| 22nd Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards[14] | Best Film | Office | |
| Best Director | Johnnie To | ||
| Best Actress | Sylvia Chang | ||
| Film of Merit | Office | ||