Love In A Puff (2010): A surprisingly charming pro-smoking rom-com
Two workers meet in a designated smoking area in this candid portrait of finding romance in a bustling city.
Hong Kong’s public health ordinance extended its ban on smoking in January 2007. The extension outlawed smoking from restaurants, workplaces and other public indoor spaces, as well as certain public outdoor spaces too. It led to the rise of designated areas where people could congregate if they wished to light up during work or social events. This is where Cherie, a cosmetics saleswoman played by Miriam Yeung, and Jimmy, an advertising executive played by Shawn Yue, have their meet cute in Love In A Puff.
Cherie and Jimmy are part of a group who gather in a back-alley during work hours to make small talk, tell stories and share jokes amidst a haze of cigarette smoke. She is in an unfulfilling relationship, and he has had his heart broken by his ex-girlfriend. Their flirtations escalate over the course of several days, and eventually they must decide whether they are just seeking companionship or wish to make a deeper commitment. It is a simple story that is low on stakes but high on laughs and charm.
The meet-cute is surprising in its ordinariness; sharing a cigarette next to the bins of a takeaway pizza shop is hardly the fairytale stuff of Richard Curtis. However, that is precisely what makes Love In A Puff so endearing. Pang Ho-Cheung’s movie bears the hallmarks of a traditional romantic comedy, but it is grounded by a remarkable candour. The characters and their relationships are unusually messy and complicated, and the film offers a realistic glimpse into the challenges of finding romance in a fast-paced working world.
The film owes much of its frankness to then emerging screenwriter Heiward Mak. She was just 25 years old when she co-wrote the film with Pang, and her youthful perspective can be detected in the naturalistic dialogue, which led critic Perry Lam to believe that “no other Hong Kong movies in recent memory give a more vivid sense of how Hong Kong people talk in real life”.
Love In A Puff’s dialogue is also noteworthy for its frequent profanity, a rarity in Hong Kong cinema, particularly for this genre, and a crucial part of what makes it so authentic. This, alongside its glamourised portrayal of smoking, earned the movie the highest possible Category III rating from the Office For Film, Newspaper And Article Administration. For this reason, it was initially a box office flop, until it began to receive social media attention. It then went on to sweep multiple awards, including a well-deserved Best Actress win for Miriam Yeung at the Hong Kong Film Award, and has since spurned multiple sequels.
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Directed by Pang Ho-cheung. Written by Pang Ho-cheung and Heiward Mak. Produced by Subi Liang. Starring Shawn Yue and Miriam Yeung. Making Film Productions. Distributed by Media Asia Distribution. 103 minutes. Hong Kong.