''Sophie's Revenge'' (; "Very Perfect") is a 2009 Chinese-Korean co-production starring

Zhang Ziyi Zhang Ziyi (; ; born 9 February 1979) is a Chinese actress and model. She is regarded as one of the Four Dan Actresses of China. Her first major role was in '' The Road Home'' (1999). She later gained international recognition for her role in ...

So Ji-sub So Ji-sub (born November 4, 1977) is a South Korean actor. After making his entertainment debut as a jeans model, he became known for his leading roles in the television series '' What Happened in Bali'' (2004), ''I'm Sorry, I Love You'' (2004), ...

Fan Bingbing Fan Bingbing (, born 16 September 1981) is a Chinese actress. From 2013 to 2017, she was included as the highest-paid celebrity in the ''Forbes'' China Celebrity 100 list after ranking in the top 10 every year since 2006. She appeared on ''Time'' ...

Ruby Lin 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 = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = , burial_place ...

Peter Ho Peter Ho (, born September 13, 1975) is an American-Hong Kong-Taiwanese singer, actor and model based in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Since his debut in 1998, he has released seven albums and has starred in over 25 films and television series, most not ...

, and

Yao Chen Yao Chen (, born 5 October 1979) is a Chinese actress and philanthropist. In 2014, ''Time'' named Yao as one of the most influential people on their ''Time 100'' list. As of 2014, she is listed as the 83rd most powerful woman in the world by '' ...

. This movie is a co-production between

Perfect World Pictures Perfect World Pictures (PWPIC) is a Chinese and American entertainment company. Founded in 2008, it engages in the production, distribution and marketing of film and television content, content related advertising, merchandising business, talent m ...

with South Korean company

CJ Entertainment CJ Entertainment (Hangul: CJ 엔터테인먼트) is a South Korean film production and distribution company under CJ ENM. The company operates as a film production company, film publishing house, investment and exhibition. History During early 1 ...

. Sound and effects help also came from South Korea through Seoul-based postproduction houses Blue Cap and HFR. According to the news,

China Film Group China Film Group Corporation (CFGC), is the largest, most influential film enterprise in the People's Republic of China, owned by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party. According to ''Forbes'', it is a state monopoly that al ...

released "Sophie's Revenge" on 14 August in China on more than 1,000 screens nationwide. A prequel titled '' My Lucky Star'' starring

and

Wang Leehom Wang Leehom (; born May 17, 1976), sometimes credited as Leehom Wang, is an American singer-songwriter, actor, producer, and film director. Formally trained at Eastman School of Music, Williams College and Berklee College of Music, his music i ...

was produced in 2013.

Synopsis

Comic book artist Sophie (

) is a sweet and carefree girl brimming with creativity. She and her handsome surgeon boyfriend of two years, Jeff (

), are the perfect couple. After his marriage proposal to her in front of her family and all of her friends, Sophie is the happiest person in the world. One day, Jeff meets a famous movie star, Joanna (

), during a surgical procedure. Immediately afterwards, he breaks up with Sophie. Devastated, Sophie takes to bed. She is unable to face anyone, especially her mother, who had been planning the wedding. Sophie decides to cover up the break-up, with only her two best friends, Lucy (

) and Lily (

) knowing the truth. She comes up with a master plan: she will use the remaining two months before the wedding date to do whatever it takes to get Jeff back. She also plans to publish her many strategies in her new comic book. She wants to show women everywhere how to use a 'scientific' approach to win love back. Sophie's first strategy of "Generosity and Forgiveness" does not go well. At a Halloween party, hosted by Gordon (

), a photographer, she drowns her sorrows in alcohol. She stumbles upon a photo of Gordon and Joanna together which immediately gives her the idea of forming an alliance with him, believing they were lovers. Gordon agrees to become Sophie's partner and her quest for revenge becomes a roller coaster of

farcical Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

twists and turns. Soon after a Christmas party at Gordon's place, Joanna reveals to Sophie that she has never lost Jeff at all and asked Gordon to keep an eye on her. It was then revealed that he and Joanna are actually siblings because he's been taking care of her since they were young. Feeling betrayed, Sophie gives up the notions of love and tells Gordon to leave her alone. Her mother then learns the truth and is finally able to convince her to give love another chance. Sophie calls off her relationship with Jeff and goes to visit Gordon, just to find he's gone and Joanna is there instead. Joanna tells her Gordon left for Europe, not even saying when he plans to come back. She also tells Sophie that Gordon's love for her is real. For two years she had no news from Gordon, so she decided to draw their story into a book with the intention of helping others discover their own inner-selves and true love. At the end Gordon, and Little San-hei, meet her again and both reveal they still have feelings for each other.

Cast

as Sophie () Late twenties. Comic Book artist. She is a creative, strong-willed young lady who is full of creative ideas. *

as Gordon () A photographer, he gets entangled in Sophie's web of intrigue. Gordon is Joanna's older brother who has been taking care of her since their parents died, but it wasn't revealed until near the end of the movie. *

as Joanna () Late twenties, famous movie star. She is Gordon's younger sister. *

as Jeff () Early thirties, USA-trained surgeon. Since Jeff is the "dream husband", two women (his ex-girlfriend and current girlfriend) fight for his love. He cannot stand the idea of his girlfriend still tangled up with his old flame. *

as Lucy () Late twenties, Sophie's close friend and her literary agent. She changes her boyfriends faster than she changes her underwear. *

as Lily () Late twenties, Sophie's other close friend. Her greatest goal in life is to marry a rich man. * Wang Ji as Sophie's mother * Cheng Qian as Host Role

Production

''Sophie's Revenge'' is written and directed by

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from m ...

filmmaker Eva Jin. The "memory box boy" from the film came from a dream that director Eva Jin had. Lead

co-financed the film, according to

Sina.com Sina Corporation (, "new wave") is a Chinese technology company. Sina operates four major business lines: Sina Weibo, Sina Mobile, Sina Online, and Sinanet. Sina has over 100 million registered users worldwide. Sina was recognized by '' South ...

. The project was announced by the South Korean company

at the

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

International Film Festival in 2008. ''Sophie's Revenge'' is Zhang Ziyi's first appearance in such an avant-garde film. Compared to many of Zhang's other films, it has a more ordinary and simple plot and a contemporary setting. The story, set in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, features top Asian stars and Chinese remakes of bouncy

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

songs, but shows no hint of regional color and strictly limits the camera to cosmopolitan venues like gyms and modern art galleries.

Staff

* Director : Eva Jin * Writer : Eva Jin * Producer : Ming Beaver Kwei * Producer : Ling Lucas * Producer : Zhang Ziyi * Cinematographer : Armando Salas * Production Designer : Second Chan * Visual Effects supervisor : Sing-Choong Foo * Edit : Cheung Ka-Fai, Tang Hua * Music : Nathan Wang * Additional Music : Dong Dongdong * Sound Designer : Kim Suk-Won * Executive Producer : Song Ge, Katharine Kim, Wang Wei, Nathan Chow, Kevin Yung * Producers : Du Yang, Mike Hyun-Dong Shu * Co-Producer : Second Chan

Reception

Ben Umstead of

Twitch Film Screen Anarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...

wrote that the film "comes across as a film for women," and "Most of the female characters are shallow and vapid. Similarly to SEX AND THE CITY, the women in this film preach about the strength of the female sex and how the female will never be complete until they find their male counterpart." A review in ''JapanCinema'' stated "The story doesn't exactly venture into unexpected territory, but there are lots of little animated scenes and other embellishments that make this more charming and imaginative than the run-of-the-mill movies in the genre being churned out today." It called the movie "a fairly entertaining example of the genre no matter where the audience lives."

Awards and nominations

; 2011 China HuaDing Film Awards * Won: Best Supporting Actress (Ruby Lin) ; 2010 China Student Film Awards * Won : Most popular Actress (Zhang Zi Yi) ; 2010 Guangzhou Student Film Festival * Won : Special Prize from critics * Nom : Best Film * Nom : Best Director * Nom : Best Actress (Zhang Zi Yi) * Nom : Best Supporting Actress (Fan Bing Bing) ; 2010 Next Generation Director Awards * Won : Best New Director (Eva Jin) ; 2010 China Film Media Awards * Won : Best New Director (Eve Jin)

Prequel

A prequel titled '' My Lucky Star'' starring Zhang Ziyi and

was produced in 2013. The film was directed by

Dennie Gordon Dennie Gordon is an American film and television director. Her directorial television credits include ''Party of Five'', '' Sports Night'', '' Ally McBeal'', ''The Practice'', ''Grounded for Life'', '' The Loop'', '' White Collar'', '' Burn Notice ...

who became the first American woman to direct a feature for the Chinese market. Zhang reprises her lead role as Sophie, who embarks on a romantic adventure from Beijing to Singapore to Hong Kong to Macau.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 1303833, Sophie's Revenge
''Sophie's Revenge'' English official site
at

Sohu.com Sohu, Inc. () is a Chinese Internet company headquartered in the Sohu Internet Plaza in Haidian District, Beijing. Sohu and its subsidiaries offer advertising, a search engine (Sogou.com), on-line multiplayer gaming (ChangYou.com) and other se ...

''Sophie's Revenge'' Chinese official siteKorean official blog
2009 films 2000s Christmas films 2000s Mandarin-language films Chinese Christmas films Chinese romantic comedy films 2009 romantic comedy films Films about comics Films about fictional painters Films about revenge Films directed by Eva Jin Films scored by Nathan Wang