The Italian Recipe [遇见你之后] (2022)

Far East Film Festival

Given the work which FEFF has done to bridge the gap between Eastern cinema and Western audiences, it seemed entirely appropriate that the opening film for FEFF 24 (back in the Teatro Nuovo Udine for the first time since 2019) should be this Chinese-Italian co-production.

Peng [Liu Xun], a ‘third-rate’ pop star is struggling to improve (or even maintain) his ratings, So he heads for Rome to take part in a ‘realty’ TV programme (which, of course, involves no reality at all).

There he meets Manman/Mandy [Huang Yao], a young Chinese woman who came to Italy when she was 12 and speaks fluent Italian. She dreams of being a chef but works in a variety of jobs while trying to complete her legal studies.

After a variety of adventures, Peng accidently goes missing but is feared kidnapped. His sudden disappearance raises his media profile and he and his cynical manager Pete [Wu Yingzhe] decide that he should stay hidden for a while. Meanwhile romance blossoms between Peng and Manman.

The film is moderately entertaining even if it involves nothing very original other than the combination of Chinese characters and Italian location. It pokes fun at cultural stereotypes (Italians love soccer and speak poor English) but never becomes offensive. It also takes numerous digs at the artificiality of the Chinese entertainment industry.

Huang Yao – who was so effective in The Crossing – again shows considerable ability as Manman while Wu Yingzhe hams it up widely in the role of the manager. But as a rom-com the film suffers from a lack of chemistry between the two main characters: Manman seems far to sensible to get involved with the flaky pop star.

The film, obviously aimed at a Chinese audience, at times becomes a travelogue of Roman tourist sites and the script – credited to a team of writers including director Hou Zuxin – is even more cliched than the story.

A light-hearted romance but I somehow doubt that – despite its commercial intentions – it will be as successful with a Chinese audience as it hopes.