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''All About Women'' (), originally titled ''She Ain't Mean'' and ''Not All Women Are Bad'', is a 2008 Chinese romantic comedy-drama film directed by
Tsui Hark Tsui Hark (, vi, Từ Khắc, born 15 February 1950), born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong film director, producer and screenwriter. Tsui has directed several influential Hong Kong films such as ''Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain'' (1983), the ...
. Starring
Zhou Xun Zhou Xun (, born 18 October 1974) is a Chinese actress and singer. She is regarded as one of the Four Dan Actresses of China. She gained international fame for her roles in '' Suzhou River'' (2000) and ''Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress'' ...
,
Kitty Zhang Zhang Yuqi (; born 8 August 1987), also known as Kitty Zhang, is a Chinese actress best known for portraying Mrs. Yuen in the 2008 film ''CJ7'' — which brought her media attention and kick-started her acting career, and Ruo Lan in the 2016 f ...
and
Gwei Lun-mei Gwei Lun-mei (; born 25 December 1983) is a Taiwanese actress. She started her acting career in 2002, with the film ''Blue Gate Crossing''. Gwei then appeared in a few more films before achieving wide recognition for the film '' Secret'', dir ...
, the film tells a series of interwoven stories as it focuses on the lives of three women and their romantic relationships. Zhou plays a clumsy woman who secretly develops a
pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...
drug patch, which serves as a
plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any narrative technique, technique in a narrative used to move the Plot (narrative), plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing ...
for the film; Kwai plays a punk rock band singer, who is also a boxer and novelist; and Zhang plays a wealthy attractive woman. Originally set to be an updated version of Tsui's ''
Peking Opera Blues ''Peking Opera Blues'' () is a 1986 Hong Kong film directed by Tsui Hark. The movie combines comedy, Hong Kong action, and serious drama with scenes involving Peking Opera. Director Tsui Hark described the film as a satire on the "Chinese igno ...
'', ''All About Women'' was shot in Beijing, China, and was released in China and Hong Kong on 11 December 2008. The film was later released in Singapore on 8 January 2009.


Cast

*
Zhou Xun Zhou Xun (, born 18 October 1974) is a Chinese actress and singer. She is regarded as one of the Four Dan Actresses of China. She gained international fame for her roles in '' Suzhou River'' (2000) and ''Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress'' ...
plays Ou Fanfan, a clumsy worker at a medical clinic who becomes petrified upon contact with any man. She is completely sightless without her thick glasses, and secretly develops a
pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...
drug patch, which allows men to be attracted to her. Zhou was immediately cast after director
Tsui Hark Tsui Hark (, vi, Từ Khắc, born 15 February 1950), born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong film director, producer and screenwriter. Tsui has directed several influential Hong Kong films such as ''Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain'' (1983), the ...
felt that she should be cast in a comedic role. She accepted the role, having been a fan of Tsui's films. She also found Tsui to be a colourful and amusing person, as while during production she was able to sample many different lives every day. During filming, she once had a record of changing into 12 different costumes and 12 different make-ups in one single day: "Even if it took half an hour for each make-up, it would still mean 6 hours of being 'manipulated' by others, I felt like a puppet, very exhausting." *
Kitty Zhang Zhang Yuqi (; born 8 August 1987), also known as Kitty Zhang, is a Chinese actress best known for portraying Mrs. Yuen in the 2008 film ''CJ7'' — which brought her media attention and kick-started her acting career, and Ruo Lan in the 2016 f ...
plays Tang Lu, a corporate businesswoman, who tends to follow her head, not her heart. Zhang commented on the character, and how her friends relate to Tang Lu: "I've got female friends like that. They're actually very happy and think they're doing very well. Only other people think that they're sad and lonely, and society portrays them as such." To prepare her for the role, director Tsui Hark hired an expert to give Zhang some training. Zhang admitted to having some pressure on the film's set as she feared destroying the expensive costumes and props. *
Gwei Lun-mei Gwei Lun-mei (; born 25 December 1983) is a Taiwanese actress. She started her acting career in 2002, with the film ''Blue Gate Crossing''. Gwei then appeared in a few more films before achieving wide recognition for the film '' Secret'', dir ...
plays Tie Ling, a 19-year-old boxer, internet novelist, and punk rock singer. She has an "imaginary" boyfriend, unaware that no one else can see him. To prepare for the role, Kwai learned how to ride a motorbike, and weave through traffic on it: "I was scared out of my wits. A lot of money had to be spent as I ended up scratching lots of vehicles along the way." Kwai also commented on the costumes for the film: "It's the first time I realised a costume designer can be so miraculous. Putting on the clothes by
William Chang William Chang Suk-ping ( zh, 張叔平; born 12 November 1953) is a Hong Kong production designer, costume designer and film editor. Along with cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Chang is an important collaborator with Hong Kong film director ...
, I felt as if I were transformed into another person...this is a far cry from my usual self." *
Godfrey Gao Godfrey Gao (; 22 September 1984 – 27 November 2019) was a Taiwanese-Canadian model and actor. Described as Asia's first male supermodel, Gao was the first male Asian model to appear in a campaign for Louis Vuitton. As an actor, he was known f ...
plays X, a famous rock superstar, who is Tie Ling's imaginary boyfriend.All About Women (2008) review
/ref> * Alex Fong plays Professor Wu Mong-Gu, a charismatic environmentalist. Fong described his character as someone who "must not be dressed too elaborately," and that "he dresses only in simple clothing." *
Stephen Fung use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...
plays Sima Xiaogang, Fanfan's love interest, who resembles her former dance instructor. He is an
indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...
er, who winds up being a human experiment for Fanfan's pheromone drug patch. Fung joined the production of the film mainly due to his passion for music. *
Eddie Peng Eddie Peng Yu-Yan (; born 24 March 1982) is a Taiwanese actor, singer and model. Personal life Peng was born in Penghu, Taiwan. He moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at the age of thirteen. In 2000, he graduated from Sir Winston Church ...
plays Mo Qiyan, Tang Lu's cousin and secretary. He is a nerdy, bespectacled guy, who is attracted to Tie Ling. Screenwriter
Kwak Jae-yong Kwak Jae-yong (born 22 May 1959) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He studied physics at Kyung Hee University. He achieved success with his debut film '' Watercolor Painting in a Rainy Day'' in 1989, but the failure of his next ...
described the character as being similar to that of Cha Tae Hyeon, a character from his 2001 Korean film ''
My Sassy Girl ''My Sassy Girl'' ( ko, 엽기적인 그녀, Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo, That Bizarre Girl) is a 2001 South Korean romantic comedy film directed by Kwak Jae-yong, starring Jun Ji-hyun and Cha Tae-hyun. The film is based on a true story told in a series ...
''. * Shen Chang plays Tian Yuan, a timid colleague, who is hired to pose as Tang Lu in the hopes of initiating a deal with Professor Wu. * Zhang Xinyi * Izumi Liu * Yiyad Zhang The film features cameos from four filmmakers: the film's director,
Tsui Hark Tsui Hark (, vi, Từ Khắc, born 15 February 1950), born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong film director, producer and screenwriter. Tsui has directed several influential Hong Kong films such as ''Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain'' (1983), the ...
, in a deleted scene, cameos as a taxi driver; co-screenwriter Kwak Jae-yong appears as a noodle restaurant patron; Hong Kong film director
Jacob Cheung Jacob Cheung Chi-leung is a Hong Kong film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His credits include '' A Battle Of Wits'' (2006), which was nominated for Best Director and Best Screenplay at the Golden Bauhinia Awards, and ''Beyond the S ...
appears as himself, playing an unlucky patient; and actor–film producer Henry Fong appears as Ou Fanfan's boss.


Production


Development

To commemorate on the 25th anniversary of his production company
Film Workshop Film Workshop Co. Ltd. (), is a Hong Kong production company and film distributor. It was founded in April 1984 by producer/director Tsui Hark and his now ex-wife, Nansun Shi. Already a director with box office hits, Tsui wanted to create a work ...
, director
Tsui Hark Tsui Hark (, vi, Từ Khắc, born 15 February 1950), born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong film director, producer and screenwriter. Tsui has directed several influential Hong Kong films such as ''Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain'' (1983), the ...
wanted the film to be one of several remakes of films produced by the company. Tsui expressed his inspiration for ''All About Women'' being a calligraphy with the words ''She Ain't Mean'' written in Chinese (女人不坏). He said that after seeing the drawing, he awoke one day, and images of countless women flashed across his mind. While promoting his 1991 film ''
Once Upon a Time in China ''Once Upon a Time in China'' (released in the Philippines as ''Enter the New Game of Death'') is a 1991 Hong Kong martial arts film written and directed by Tsui Hark, starring Jet Li as Chinese martial arts master and folk hero of Cantonese et ...
'' in Seoul, Korea, Tsui attended a seminar, where he met Korean filmmaker
Kwak Jae-yong Kwak Jae-yong (born 22 May 1959) is a South Korean film director and screenwriter. He studied physics at Kyung Hee University. He achieved success with his debut film '' Watercolor Painting in a Rainy Day'' in 1989, but the failure of his next ...
. Tsui began working on a script titled ''She's a Hooligan'', developing various characters, who began to gradually form into something more concrete after several days. When Tsui discovered that Kwak was working on a script similar to his, he abandoned his own script, and collaborated with Kwak. Kwak wrote the script in Korean before it was translated into Chinese. Tsui then commented on and amended the Chinese version before it was translated back into Korean. The script was later re-edited by Kwak and retranslated into Chinese.


Filming

''All About Women'' was shot in Beijing, China from 1 January to April 2008, and was hailed as updated version of Tsui's 1986 film ''
Peking Opera Blues ''Peking Opera Blues'' () is a 1986 Hong Kong film directed by Tsui Hark. The movie combines comedy, Hong Kong action, and serious drama with scenes involving Peking Opera. Director Tsui Hark described the film as a satire on the "Chinese igno ...
''. In March, Tsui, for the first time as a filmmaker, invited the Chinese press visit to the set of ''All About Women'' in Changping, Beijing. Kitty Zhang commented on Tsui's style of filmmaking as the director would frequently make changes to the screenplay: "Often, when I arrived on the set in the morning, he'd hand me three pages of the script, saying that it's what we'd be filming today. I was taken aback. What he gave me earlier only had two paragraphs. Why such a big change?" Upon being questioned, Tsui admitted there would be changes to the screenplay, since he did not have everything he wanted in the film on the shooting script.


Accolades

28th Hong Kong Film Awards * Nominated –
Kitty Zhang Zhang Yuqi (; born 8 August 1987), also known as Kitty Zhang, is a Chinese actress best known for portraying Mrs. Yuen in the 2008 film ''CJ7'' — which brought her media attention and kick-started her acting career, and Ruo Lan in the 2016 f ...
for Best New Actor * Nominated –
William Chang William Chang Suk-ping ( zh, 張叔平; born 12 November 1953) is a Hong Kong production designer, costume designer and film editor. Along with cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Chang is an important collaborator with Hong Kong film director ...
for Best Costume Design


References


External links

* * * {{Tsui Hark 2008 films Hong Kong romantic comedy-drama films 2008 romantic comedy-drama films Films directed by Tsui Hark Films set in Beijing Chinese romantic comedy-drama films Films shot in Beijing 2000s Mandarin-language films