Sophie (Zhang Ziyi) is a manga writer with a romantic, if somewhat peculiar soul. Soon to be wed to the dashing young surgeon, Jeff (Seo Ji-seob), she suddenly discovers that he is in love with a famous actress, Joanna (Fan Bingbing). Desperate and tormented by her mother who, unaware of events, assails her with wedding preparations, Sophie plans revenge, finding an ally in the actress’s supposed ex-boyfriend, the photographer Gordon (Peter Ho). Like Meg Ryan in Addicted To Love, Sophie throws herself into her task with enthusiasm, inventing various strategies which she records in her “Love Manual”, a sort of “ten commandments” of revenge published in the form of manga. But her moves regularly provoke the reverse to the desired effect, until Sophie realises that in the meantime, as expected, her priorities have changed...
A classic Hollywood-style romantic comedy, the film is a Chinese-Korean co-production which adopts a narrative outline and techniques of proven success for this film genre in Korea, with sets, colours, costumes and make-up lending the film an elegant and engaging edge. It is no coincidence that the Chinese title of the film, which literally translates as “extremely perfect”, is ironic and self-referencing, alluding to its pleasing aesthetics. Interspersed with animation sequences which introduce the various strategies adopted by Sophie to win back her lost love, the film is set in a totally anonymous city which brings to mind the New York of Sex And The City rather than contemporary China, despite having been shot in Beijing and Tianjin, and peopled with characters who speak Chinese but have western names.
Zhang Ziyi has a tough task as this is her first comedy; in addition, she plays a character who experiences a wide range of psychological states, passing from frustration to eccentricity, from innocence to wickedness, from sweetness to triumph. While Fan Bingbing is on more familiar territory in the role of a beautiful actress who is both charismatic and ill-tempered. All the characters in the film have exaggerated traits, helping contribute to creating an unrealistic atmosphere, one which is firmly rooted in the imagination; even the supporting roles, such as those of Sophie’s two best friends, played by Yao Cheng an Ruby Lin, are intentionally larger-than-life. Various members of the crew (director, producer, director of photography, etc.) made cameo appearances in the film, as did the Chinese super-model Jacqueline Zhao. Sophie’s Revenge is Zhang Ziyi’s debut, not only in a comic role, but also as producer in this international production, with actors from continental China, Taiwan and South Korea, and a crew that includes technicians from continental China, Hong Kong, Korea and the USA. It cost 50 million RMB, earning around double that figure in China alone.
Maria Barbieri