Go Lala Go!

I had the chance in 2021 to sit down and watch the 2010 Chinese romantic comedy movie "Go Lala Go" (aka "Du Lala sheng zhi ji"). And of course I sat down to watch it, as it is a Chinese movie and one that I haven't already seen before.

As I hadn't even heard about this movie prior to sitting down to watch it, I had no idea what the movie was about, nor did I know who was on the cast list. So I didn't really have much of any expectations for "Go Lala Go". So on that account writers Yun Wang, Jinglei Xu and Meng Zhao had every chance to bedazzle and impress me with this 2010 movie.

And while "Go Lala Go" was watchable, it wasn't really an outstanding movie. It was, actually, just another run-of-the-mill romantic comedy movie. And director Jinglei Xu didn't manage to lift the movie out of the generic and stereotypical runt that romantic comedies tend to slump into. And that was also the case for the 2010 "Go Lala Go". It offered nothing that hadn't already been seen in other romantic comedies similar to this one.

Lead actress, writer and director Jinglei Xu is one that I wasn't familiar with, but she did a good enough acting performance in the movie, though it was weighed down by a mediocre and generic script. I was, however, very surprised to see Karen Mok in the movie, and she really spruced up an otherwise stale movie. Just a shame that she didn't have a larger role to play in the movie.

If you enjoy these generic romantic comedy type of movies, then I am sure that you will find some enjoyment in "Go Lala Go". But if you are looking for a romantic comedy that offers more than just your average run-of-the-mill romantic comedy, then this is hardly the best of choices.

While I managed to sit through the entire course of "Go Lala Go", this was not a movie experience that had me impressed. My rating of the 2010 romantic comedy settles on a very mediocre five out of ten stars.

I enjoy Xu Jinglei as an actress and think her move to behind the camera shows lots of promise. I wish I didn't have to report that her latest film is a disappointment. To be fair, it's a disappointment because it's not what I expected from her. Go Lala Go!, in which she stars and directs, has none of the depth or artistry of Letter From an Unknown Woman or My Father and I. Go Lala Go! is about promotion hungry corporate trash, and it's pure popcorn fluff, hyper-kinetic and full of fashionable costuming, hairstyles, and product placement.

But is it good popcorn fluff? I'm not sure but I'm inclined to say no. It did very well at the box office (in China, in case that's not clear) and there's probably a reason. First of all, it's solidly within the constraints of the Chinese Film Bureau's guidelines of what kinds of stories should be told and what kinds of messages are permitted. Specifically, with regards to rewarding foul play, there's none of that. Lala's rise up the corporate ladder is completely the result of good honest hard work. Yes, she sleeps with a high level big shot Director of Sales but it's for love, not strategy, and the film shows it as problematic. In fact, inter-office relationships are a major theme in the movie. A blind eye is sometimes turned but for the most part they are considered not a good or acceptable idea.

Another reason for its success may be that it puts on display all the name brands and fashionable accessories many millions of Chinese feel they are fairly close to partying with. Even though us educated capitalists are hip to that myth, there's a younger generation of Chinese that is probably tired of, or uninterested in films which wallow in a prideful past and they want to dream about a possible future instead. That's all fine and good, and maybe I shouldn't rush to judgement. Xu Jinglei has given the masses what they want. Good for her. She made some money, hopefully.

There's some cultural interest for non-Chinese in Go Lala Go!, but as a film it's thin and a little too chaotic. The chaotic part seem intentional. It's almost as if Xu discovered downloadable iMovie Transitions and went nuts. The direction is strong, consistent, and assured, but it's a style I don't fancy. There are some decent comedic bits, Xu possessing a courageous inclination for the self-deprecating, and some of the love geometry is OK, but it's all stirred in very quickly, giving the sense that it's not important. Scenes just sort of smash into one another. Karen Mok is fun and she still has great legs but the American-Taiwanese pop star Stanley Huang as Lala's love interest didn't do much for me. There's some nice scenery when they all vacation to the beaches of Thailand but not much to the story.

I still can't wait to see what Xu Jinglei does next.

This isn't a great movie. Maybe it's not even a very good movie, but it sure was fun to watch. Sure, it's a little silly and it's got way too many product placements, especially for one particular Chinese computer company, but the relationship between the principles feels real and is paced well. Sure, you know where the film's going front he very beginning, but it doesn't feel forced at any point.

If you're up for a light-hearted bit of romantic comedy fluff in Chinese, then you aren't going to be disappointed.

If you're expecting a movie about China or Chinese culture then you're likely or be disappointed. This movie could as easily have been set in Chicago or Berlin and not changed a single aspect of the film.

I'm not a scholar of Chinese culture, but even so I can't imagine this is accurate. Fast camera cuts, bright colors and copious amounts of product placement make it feel like an American TV show. If I didn't know better, I would assume that everyone working in a corporate office in China drank Lipton tea while talking on a Nokia phone and emailing on their Lenovo.

The storyline was the basic secretary falls in love with her boss despite the corporate culture. I can't place any particular movie, but it feels like any number of US movies from the 80's and early 90's, except everyone has better hair and designer clothes.

Character development lacked, well, developing. I didn't really feel like I got to know any of the supporting characters. Because of this, when something happened with a supporting character you are left feeling confused as to why you care and what this has to do with the main story. Plot developments come out of no-where in several occasions; you learn something happened when someone reacted to it at a later date, rather than when it happened. This gives the movie a disjointed feel.

This is a film to watch if you're in an analytical mood, even though it does not aspire to be anything more than a superficial romantic comedy - a job that it does just fine.

This modern Chinese tale of love and work tells the story of Lala, a woman in her mid-twenties who gets a good job with an American company in China (that only gives 10 days annual leave) with the intention of working her way up to the top. Unpretentious, talented and hard-working, she has all the tools to get there, until love gets in her way.

How this conflict between work and love is presented is the most interesting aspect of the film. The convention is that love conquers all and a woman will forget her career for love. But here the convention is broken, and loyalty and the desire to better oneself are just as important.

This is not a totally new phenomenon in Asian cinema. Anyone familiar with Japanese films will have come across the "do your best!" mantra. Speaking once to a Japanese sociology professor, he commented how this "do your best" attitude played an important role in Japanese development after WW2. Consequently it's not surprising to see a 21st century neoliberal take on the same mantra: do your best for yourself and for your corporation.

As corporations take over China and wages decrease in relation to living costs, most people will have little choice but to put their career before love, and loyalty to their company before loyalty to anything else.

In that sense, the film is an unwitting indictment of the very culture it seeks to glorify. This alone makes it worthwhile.