A scene from Breakup Buddies starring Xu Zheng (left) and Huang Bo Photo: CFP

During the recent National Day Golden Week, domestic comedy film Breakup Buddies, directed by Ning Hao, won at the box office while also receiving critical acclaim from audiences. Hitting screens on September 30, the film has earned more than 700 million yuan ($114 million).

Ever since his first successful movie Crazy Stone (2006), Ning has become one of China's most acclaimed directors. Continuing his streak of successful films such as Crazy Racer and No Man's Land, Ning has once again proven his wizard-like talent with Breakup Buddies, starring renowned actors Huang Bo and Xu Zheng, who have continued to cooperate with Ning since Crazy Stone.

The film focuses on Geng Hao (Huang Bo), a singer suffering from an emotional crisis after his recent divorce. In an attempt to pull him out of the drudges, his best buddy Hao Yi (Xu Zheng) forces Geng on a trip the beautiful Southwest city of Dali, in Yunnan Province. The same city where he met his wife, Hao's idea is to help Geng get some closure to his relationship there. "There will be hundreds of beautiful chicks for miles," Hao tells Geng, cementing the idea that the main goal of this trip is to "hook up" with as many women as possible.

There are basically two main storylines running throughout the film. One involves Geng and Hao's trip and the many girls they meet along the way. They main joke here being that Geng keeps failing to pick up anybody while Hao is constantly flirting and having one night stands. The other plotline follows the Kan Xiaoyu (Yuan Quan), a single woman who recently ran into her ex-boyfriend and his new wife at a wedding. Tired of people constantly badgering her about being single, she ends up in Dali after hearing Geng sing "Going to Dali." 

Social satire

Of course it wouldn't be a Ning film if it wasn't satirizing social realities. The film goes a long way to reflect the current lives of young people in China today. Setting the film in Dali was key to this, as while thousands of tourists go to Dali to enjoy its natural scenery and ethnic culture, yet it is also the perfect place for some young people to have a one night stand.

Hao represents quite a number of these people whose sole purpose of going on vacation is to fool around, and indeed his talented flirting skills help him hook up with several girls during the course of the film.

In contrast, Geng is full of frustration and pain about his failed marriage. What's worse, no matter what he tries he can't seem to get anywhere with any of the women he meets on the way. Played up for its comical situation, Geng's process of going from anger to acceptance provides a lesson for audiences.

He meets three different girls during his trip. The first a rebellious teenage girl that belongs to China's shamate sub-culture, a group that enjoys wearing goth and anime inspired clothing and exaggerated hair.

This naive young girl wants to go back to Beijing with Geng, leaving her shamate boyfriend behind. Although Geng has no intention of taking her back at all, he somehow becomes the third person in this young girl's love triangle, an experience that makes him realize that sometimes it's not the fault of some outsider when a relationship fails.

The second girl is ideal, with her pretty face, perfect body and great personality. However, when Geng finally gets up the courage to chase her, he finds out that he's not the right guy for her as she's a lesbian.

The third time, he pays offers a great deal of money to one of the women who work in the hotel he is staying in just to have her say "I love you" and "It's my fault." When she refuses his offer, Geng learns that money isn't the answer to everything.

The single looking-for-love Kang Xiaoyu, who travels all by herself to Dali, also represents quite a number of young people nowadays. An artistic spirit who enjoys her freedom, yet is coming under increasing pressure for being single as she approaches the age of 30.

Subverting expectations

As the two storylines unfold simultaneously, everyone in the audience assumes that Kang is bound to be the last woman that Geng meets and that they will live happily ever after together. Yet, Ning once again surprises the audience with his special style of storytelling.

Kang does meet Geng and a romance begins between them, leading them to eventually get married, however it is soon revealed that they are now getting a divorce. In an interesting twist it turns out that the two storylines, Kang's and Geng's, were actually taking place at different times, Kang's showing how the two met in Dali, and Geng's showing how he recovered from their divorce. As such this trip to Dali marks the beginning and the end of their relationship.

All in all, Breakup Buddies is a very relaxing comedy with punch lines buried throughout, allowing the audience to laugh, but at the same time reflect on the journey of its main characters.

One great thing about Ning's comedic films is that they always have a genius plot, while also being shot with great cinematography. Breakup Buddies is no exception to this and is definitely worth the price of a movie ticket.