focus: "love is not all around"

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I already did an informational post about Love is Not All Around with synopsis, trailer, and what-not, so I won't do it again here.

Brief review
Love was better than I had expected. I was only anticipating and watching for Linda Chung's silver screen debut, but honestly, Love is not a bad movie and is kind of entertaining. There's no doubt that this movie is geared towards the younger generation, but it's not totally teenybopper fluff. There are some nice twists in the plot and it's overall a tad bit interesting. The ending was shocking. Let's just say what Stephy Tang said at the beginning (and repeated at the end in the movie's closing moments) - "Not everything you see is the truth and the truth might be elusive" - is true. I thought it was a very powerful and surprisingly dark ending. The overall tone and meaning of the movie was quite different from what I had expected.

Linda did quite well in her role. She's improving and maturing into such a fine actress. I was shocked to see how broken and vulnerable she looked in all of her crying scenes - very realistic; you can feel what she's feeling when she cries. [Thank you Heart of Greed and Korean dramas for teaching Linda how to cry and act with her eyes!] Her best performance hands-down was the scene when she slapped Stephy. The delivery of her lines and her actions were very, very good. The veins in her neck even popped up! It was very convincing and realistic. I must say I am not pleased with the "bangs" hairstyle, but the results on-screen weren't as bad. In some shots, she looked quite pretty. However, overall, she did not look too good, which is a shame because her performance was good. I loved watching the scenes when her character was being "evil" [I use this term very loosely because overall "Ching Ching" was not a bad person. She just acted out of self-defense. She is genuinely a very good and caring person.]. She has an interesting antagonist look. I cannot wait to see Linda's performance in The Gem of Life. I am dying to see Linda act spoiled, rotten, flirtatious, and conniving.

I really liked watching Stephy. She is pretty and acted adequately. Her scenes with Alex Fong were quite good. I can see now why this pairing is popular; they're compatible and cute. Her friendship chemistry with Linda was quite good. In the 8 days that Linda spent filming the movie, she and Stephy developed quite a bond. Linda even read Stephy's book. The friendship showed up on-screen. I was not impressed with anyone else besides the first and second leading actresses and really, the whole movie is about them anyways.

Love is Not All Around is a pretty decent movie as a whole. At the very least, I did not feel bored out of my mind at all.

Rating:

Traces of Heart of Greed
The movie reminded me of TVB's Heart of Greed. In the movie, "Ching Ching" (Linda) has a cheating "Ching Leung" and a "Dak Dak Dei" who unconditionally loves her and is by her side. What's ironic is that the "Ching Leung" in this movie is the son of a dry goods store rather than "Dak Dak Dei". The bad thing is that the "Ching Leung" in the movie - "Ah Wing" (Sammy) - didn't repent, but "Ching Ching" still forgave him. Throughout the whole movie, he kept saying how much he loved his mistress and was thinking about divorcing his wife for her. I hated how he kept saying that he "loved" "Ching Ching". If he loved her so much, why was he hurting her? He was very happy and proud of his affair. Not once did he admit that the affair was wrong. Yes, he felt bad about cheating, but not bad enough to stop it. It wasn't until his mistress left him that he came back to "Ching Ching". "Honey, I'm sorry. Forgive me." That comes too little and too late. I was really hoping that "Ching Ching" would slap him and tell him off. However, that doesn't happen.

Disappointingly, "Ching Ching" takes him back and pretends nothing ever happened. "I never asked him what happened. ... I never asked him who the third person was. The past is over. As long as he came back, that's enough." Furthermore, she reveals that she's pregnant with his baby. I hated "Ah Wing" - such a despicable character. He is no "Ching Leung" at all. "Ching Leung" repented and made up for hurting "Seung Joi Sum" so much. He deserved her forgiveness... but "Ah Wing" is just scum.

It's the death of her "Dak Dak Dei" - "Siu Mo" (Terry Wu) [how funny it is that the name sounds like Moses Chan's nickname - "Ah Mo"] - that made her forgive "Ah Wing" and "play dumb" about her husband's cheating. She realized that holding grudges and not forgiving doesn't do any good. She learned that she had to appreciate the people beside her. Even though she was hurt deeply, I think she couldn't get over how much she still loved him [although I have no idea why she does]. I didn't like that, but I guess it puts it all together and gives "Ching Ching" a conclusion.

I think it's kind of funny that Linda's character in the movie didn't ask who the "other woman" was. In real life, Linda says that she has to know the whole truth before she will forgive - which is like her character in Heart. She couldn't let things go until "Ching Leung" told her who the "third person" was. I guess this offers another perspective towards the whole cheating thing. Is it better to know or to pretend nothing happened and remain in the dark? Is it better to fool yourself or know the truth?

Irony in the title
The Chinese title is rather ironic. Sup Fan Ngoi (translated as "100% Love") suggests a moving love story. However, it's really not the case with this movie at all. The English title is more fitting. By the end of the movie, "love" is really not "all around"! I think the synopsis was also misleading. The movie isn't mainly about Stephy and Alex's relationship at all. Rather, it is about Stephy and her friendship(s) with Linda and Sammy. I think the main message of this movie is that young people these days make relationships way too complicated and that they have an overrated and exaggerated view of love. It's kind of depressing and pessimistic, but I think in some parts it's true.

Second movie coming soon...
Linda's movie debut in Love impressed a lot of people - from movie goers to industry people. She now has many movie offers. It's only been a few months since her first movie was filmed and released and now she's currently filming her second movie work. The movie's cast includes Shawn Yue Man Lok and Chen Kun [Yes, the actor from TVB's historical grand production with CCTV, The Conquest]. I am very excited about her new project. There is no released title or plot to the movie at this time. It's said that Niki Chow is a part of the cast too. However, at this time, it can be assumed that Linda plays the leading female role for the movie.

"love is not all around" promotion

Synopsis:
"Sequel" to 2006's Marriage With A Fool...

Ga Bo (Stephy Tang Lai Yan, Ching Ching (Linda Chung Ka Yan), and Chi Wing (Sammy Sam Mei) were friends from childhood. Ga Bo found out that Ching Ching's newly-wed husband, Chi Wing, was having an affair with Bik Lin. Chi Wing found Ga Bo and discussed the love triangle problem with her. Soft-hearted Ga Bo promised to keep the secret for Chi Wing; she only told her housemate, Ah Mun (Miki Yeung Ngoi Gun), who had nothing to do with the two.

As Ga Bo troubled herself over her best friend's problem, she met her ex-boyfriend, Dai Lik (Alex Fong Lik Sun), whom she parted with unhappily. Three years ago, after Ga Bo used Dai Lik to meet Mun Soun, she received a series of revenge acts from Dai Lik. After re-meeting Dai Lik, a series of revenge actions similar to what had happened three years ago occurred again, leading her unable to not believe it is Dai Lik who is doing this. Afterwards she realized it was all a misunderstanding and that Dai Lik still loved her. During an accident, Ga Bo met Doctor Joe (Hins Cheung Ging Hin) in the emergency department of the hospital. Joe started to court her. Unfortunately, they meet Dai Lik during one of their dates, making Ga Bo feel extremely awkward and embarrassed between the two.

Unexpectedly, the person to hurt her was Ching Ching. Ching Ching mistook Ga Bo as the third party in her relationship, causing Ga Bo to tell her everything. With the help of Ah Mun, they made a plan to expose Chi Wing's lie. In the end, they found that Bik Lin was innocent. Ga Bo unpredictably saw Joe with his ex-girlfriend; thinking he had a girlfriend, Ga Bo felt very sad. They forever lost the chance to be together due to this misunderstanding. The depressed Ga Bo went to find Dai Lik, only to see him with a young girl. She lost all the courage to reveal anymore truths and chose to leave Hong Kong for a job in Shanghai. A year later, she returned to Hong Kong for Ah Mun’s wedding. She found that over time, Ching Ching and Chi Wing are together once again. Dai Lik met his beloved Ga Bo at the wedding and sincerely pleads for Ga Bo to listen to his explanation… but can he really get rid Ga Bo’s doubt in love? Where will true love actually land? Keep up to date with Love Is Not All Around.

Credits: truth_angel @ AsianFanatics Forum





Cast: Stephy Tang, Alex Fong, Linda Chung, Sam Mei, etc.

Official Website: www.loveisnotallaround.com

Release Date: April 19, 2007

Focusing on Linda Chung...



Exclusive: Interview with the movie's director

Linda Chung's performance causes people to open their eyes and watch



Paco [Executive of the movie's company]: This time, we chose Linda Chung to act because of the strong recommendations by Yip Nim Sam [the movie's director]. To some extent, everyone is attracted by Linda's docile appearance. Furthermore, she is well-trained by TVB. Her performing skills are something to behold. Her crying really moves every part of the heart.

Yip Nim Sam: I think that Linda really exuberates the "girl-next-door" feeling. Therefore, I recommended her to my boss to play "Ching Ching." Her performance is excellent. She was very immersed [into character] when she acted out her emotions. Her acting is very exquisite. When she cries, everyone is able to feel her pain. It's very touching.

Linda Chung: I really have to thank the company and the director for giving me this opportunity. This time, the acting process went very well. Perhaps it's because Stephy [Tang] and I are the same age, so we worked really well together. The director encouraged me to be braver. There was one scene where I had to become very heartless because I had to slap Stephy. At that time, it felt like a ghost had invaded my body. I was very emotional as I told Stephy that we can't be friends anymore. I can remember the rage that I felt when I transformed into a terrifying person. It makes me really want to cry.

Linda Chung wants to marry and have kids in five years



Paco: As a manager, I want to raise a point. As long as it doesn't effect their career from advancing, I fully support my artists to date. I think that love and bread-winning should work together. Towards her newly blossoming career, Linda has said that love still can't be passed on.

Linda Chung: Before entering the industry, I definitely would choose love. However, I've realized now that a career is also very important. Nevertheless, you still need to have love so that you can achieve "balance." You can't just have a career; it will make you go crazy! In any case, I will definitely marry and have children in the future and be a homemaker. However, this is something for five years later.



My opinions: I am not into "teenybopper" or "idol" flicks. Heck, I don't even watch the American ones. However, for Linda's sake, I will watch this movie. This will be the first Hong Kong movie that I watch. I hope it's good. The trailer and all of the praises that the director is flowering Linda with makes me really excited for Love Is Not All Around. This movie is Linda's most recent acting stint as well as her first movie. Her role sounds interesting. The trailer termed her as a "good wife," but the synopsis and Linda's interview paints "Ching Ching" as a semi-villain. I am very excited about that because I've always wanted to see an "evil" Linda. Her innocent look would work wonderfully as a villain as no one would expect her to be conniving. I've always loved Linda's crying, so I can't want to see all of the heart-aching and emotional scenes that she has.

I hope Love Is Not All Around does well in the box office and that it garners good reviews.

I'm a bit displeased about Linda's chosen "look" for the role - it's unflattering. I'm not happy that she has decided to have this look for the 80-episode TVB blockbuster The Gem of Life as well. However, I'm hopeful that she will change her look as Gem progresses. Nevertheless, I'm sure her performances will make up for it.

So many veterans are praising Linda these days from Ada Choi ("puts her heart into acting and has full potential and professionalism") to Lee See Kei (had nothing but praises for her Best Bet performance and kept saying her performance is "excellent") to Ha Yu ("immense improvements") and now this movie director. "Seung Joi Sum" is also being well-received with the Heart of Greed audience. It looks like Linda's birthday wish for her performances to have a breakthrough and be well-received is coming true! I am so happy for her and really proud of my girl! Keep it up and continue working hard and improving like always!