To laugh or cry?

Famous funnyman Feng Xiaogang shows his dark side in his upcoming comedy. Liu Wei reports

Since 1997, when Feng Xiaogang's Dream Factory - the first of his New Year's comedies - premiered, moviegoers have come to think of catching his funny flicks as something of a tradition. But audiences should expect to shed tears of both joy and sorrow this year, as the 52-year-old will bring a tragicomedy to the silver screen on Dec 22.

If You are the One 2 is a sequel to the romantic comedy with the same title that screened last year.

In the first installment, middle-aged protagonist Qin Fen meets air hostess Liang Xiaoxiao on a blind date, and they fall in love. In the second installment, they cohabitate to see if they are ready, or not, to tie the knot.

The film's first half is still hilarious, as it's laced with Feng's typical street humor. But it makes an about-face around halfway through, becoming an introspective look at a middle-aged man grappling with death, marriage and love.

The film opens with a divorce ceremony, in which a couple, clad in black, place their rings back in the box and place their hands on a pile of cash.

"Do you promise, to money's ordinance, that you will not have and hold each other from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health?" the emcee asks. "Yes," the couple says. And the guests applaud, cheering, "It's over! It's over!" Innovative, indeed. But the mood is perfectly different during an equally clever funeral for a living person in the film's second half.

Some lines stand out as golden nuggets: "I fear death. Death is like walking in the darkness of night and you open a door. You don't know what's behind it. Is there a colorful world or an abyss? I fear it's neither an end nor a beginning."

"All marriages are mistakes. A long marriage makes the most of a mistake."

"To die with dignity is better than live with humiliation."

The divorce ceremony and the funeral for the living were the ideas of Wang Shuo, who co-wrote the script with Feng.

Wang, also 52, became the country's favorite writer in the 1990s for his vivid use of Beijing dialect and ironic insights into life. Older writers criticized his style as that of a "hooligan", but young readers celebrated him as an icon.

Many of Feng's films were adapted from Wang's novels, including Dream Factory and A Sigh. The pair hadn't cooperated since 1997.

Feng puts it this way: "There is a kind of cocktail in which you place a small cup of Erguotou (a Chinese liquor brand) in a big glass of beer. Drinkers think it's beer because of its appearance, but it's much stronger than you'd expect. I am beer, and Wang is Erguotou."

As often happens when two middle-aged men who have experienced ups and downs meet, they are likely to ponder their lives and share their reflections.

When the two were younger, they were acclaimed for their quick wit and boldness. But now, their conversations hinge more on melancholy and pessimism. At least, that's what If You are the One 2 suggests, and Feng doesn't deny it.

"To tell you the truth, I'm indeed pessimistic about life," he says.

"Why? Many things disappoint me. I'll share one from a newspaper: A man in Wuhan stood on the top of a building, ready to commit suicide.

"The crowd stood in the street, yelling, 'Jump, bastard, jump!' No one tried to stop him. They just wanted to see an event.

"When the man jumped and fell to the ground, the crowd just dispersed."

"How can I not be pessimistic?" he asks, lighting another cigarette. "Life is where happiness meets sadness."

The director, who just made the highest-grossing domestic film, The Aftershock ($88 million), earlier this year, has thought about retirement and death.

"I have lived two-thirds of my life if I die at 70," he says.

"It is time to summarize my life. When I forged my career as a production designer, I did it just for fun.

"I found my hobby could make money when I made Dream Factory in 1997, but before Assembly (his 2007 war epic), I knew it was again time to make films for fun."

The secret to enjoyment lies in only making films he likes. He doesn't need to worry so much about revenue anymore, he says.

He isn't concerned such a sad movie will disappoint viewers, who prefer to see jolly flicks during the festive season, he says.

"One hundred million yuan ($15 million) is enough," the director says. "Films aren't only about jollification. The audience likes to be moved."

He plans to do five more films with Huayi Brothers, the production company with which he has cooperated for 11 years, according to their contract.

"That's probably it," he says.

"Living in a house beside the sea and mountains when I am old - that's what I expect from retirement. I'll stay alone and not see anybody in my final days," he continues.

"I have talked about this with Wang Shuo. Neither of us will use drugs to prolong our lives. We would rather leave the world earlier."

(China Daily 12/21/2010 page19)