Gala Premiere of Soulmate
I attended the Gala Premiere of the Chinese drama
flick, 'Soulmate' which premiered on the 10th of November 2016.
'Soulmate' is based on the web-novel, 'Qiyue and
Ansheng' which was written by An Ni Bao Bei. This movie stars popular
Chinese artistes Zhou Dongyu and Sandra Ma as a pair of inseparable best
friends who met when they were only 13 years old. They experienced the highs
and lows of adolescence and adulthood together.
Qiyue (starring Sandra Ma) is a bookish
person with traditional virtues who is aiming to have a stable
future. Ansheng (played by Zhou Dongyu) on the end hand is the total
opposite of Qiyue. She is a free-wandering and
very outgoing character. Despite their differences, the two remain as
close as can be. They snuggle together in bed and are akin to peas in a pod.
However everything changes, when a good-looking boy, Jiaming (starring
Toby Li) enters their lives.
'Soulmate' uses a narrative setting, where
their lives are chapters within a novel supposedly written by Qiyue. As it
has become a famous online hit, Ansheng reads on it on her laptop.
With this set-up, it blends fact with fantasy to devastating effects.
In high school, Qiyue falls for Jiaming, whose
presence becomes a complicated factor in her friendship with Ansheng. Some
chemistry develops between Ansheng and Jiaming as she is always
the third-wheel on Qiyue and Jiaming's dates. He becomes the obstacle in
their lives which tears them apart. As they drift in and out from
each other's lives. The two young women start to develop a renewed appreciation
for their friendship.
Overall, 'Soulmate' is a fantastic drama and an
endearing love-letter to friendship with excellent performances from
both the female leads. I'm pretty confident this show is
dramatic enough to make the audience shed tears.
'Soulmate' is being nominated for 7 awards at the
2016 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, which included Best Actress nominations
for both Zhou Dongyu and Sandra Ma, as well as the Best Director
award for Derek Tsang (son of HKG veteran, Eric Tsang). All are
well-deserved!
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