Cocktail (2006 film)

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Cocktail
Cocktail 2006 film poster.jpg
Cocktail film poster
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 半醉人間
Simplified Chinese 半醉人间
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin Bànzuì rénjiān
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping Bun3zeoi3 jan4gaan1
Directed byLong Ching
Herman Yau
Written byCheung Fan
Starring Race Wong
Candy Lo
Release date
  • 19 January 2006 (2006-01-19)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese

Cocktail is a 2006 Hong Kong film produced and directed by Herman Yau and Long Ching. The film stars Candy Lo, Endy Chow, and Race Wong. [1]

Contents

Plot

Candy, a thoughtful and introspective character, owns the trendy Hong Kong bar Half Mortal. She hires Paul as a bartender, and her part-time employee Stella, a psychology student, begins to train him. Paul has a unique talent for mixing drinks that match his customers' emotional states.

He comes from a troubled background and is grieving the recent death of his alcoholic father. Having dropped out of school, Paul is also inexperienced with women. He has fallen in love with Stella but struggles to express himself around her.

He ponders whether alcohol can bring happiness or, as Stella believes, simply alters how people act.

Cast

Analysis

According to a Hong Kong Film Critics Society review, the film's message whether made deliberately or not is "the drunken world is good, but the sober real world is not necessarily bad". [2] The South China Morning Post called the film "a mild melodrama about the romances of urban twentysomethings" and a "dramatic comed[y] aimed at teens". [3] [4]

Reception

In a Hong Kong Film Critics Society review, the film critic wrote, "As for Cocktail, although the content is relatively cliché and some scenes are a bit sensational, regarding the part of it dealing with the relationship between father and son, I personally think it is better than After This Our Exile ." [5]

References

  1. "Film". South China Morning Post . 19 June 2006. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  2. 賓尼 (2 January 2006). "《半醉人間》香港人需要一個醉人的家?" ["Cocktail": Do Hong Kong people need an intoxicating home?] (in Chinese). Hong Kong Film Critics Society. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  3. Tsui, Clarence (22 March 2007). "Hits and misses". South China Morning Post . Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  4. "Also showing: Race Wong". South China Morning Post . 4 December 2008. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  5. 2006香港電影回顧 [2006 Hong Kong Film Review] (in Chinese). Hong Kong Film Critics Society. 2006. pp. 12, 195, 211. Retrieved 30 January 2022 via Google Books.