Office is a 2015 musical comedy-drama film produced and directed by Johnnie To and starring Chow Yun-fat, Sylvia Chang, Eason Chan and Tang Wei. A Hong Kong-Chinese co-production, the film is an adaptation of the 2008 play Design for Living, which was created by and starred Chang. Office premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and was theatrically released in China on 2 September 2015 and in Hong Kong in 3D on 24 September 2015.
Plot Billion-dollar company Jones & Sunn is going public. Chairman Ho Chung-ping (Chow Yun-fat) has promised CEO Winnie Cheung (Sylvia Chang), who has been his mistress for more than twenty years, that she will become a major shareholder of the company. As the IPO team enters the company to audit its accounts, a series of inside stories starts to be revealed.
Lee Xiang (Wang Ziyi), a new hire at Jones & Sunn, brings with him youthful ideals and dreams. Within the neoliberal market, the logic of intrigue rules, complicated by entanglements of love-hate relationships, which weaves a power play and a pathos-laden tragedy inside the office.
Cast Chow Yun-fat as Ho Chung-ping (何仲平) Sylvia Chang as Winnie Cheung (張威) Eason Chan as David Wong (王大偉) Tang Wei as Sophie (蘇菲) Wang Ziyi as Lee Xiang (李想) Lang Yueting as Kat Ho (何琪琪) Cheung Siu-fai as John Suen (孫強) Tien Hsin as Ka-ling (嘉玲) Timmy Hung as Howard (浩浩) Stephanie Che as Ban-ban (班班) Mickey Chu as Shum Hoi (沈凱) Mimi Kung as Mrs. Ho (何太太) Lo Hoi-pang as Jones & Sunn security guard
Critical reception Office has received positive reviews. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times refers it as "One of the best-directed movies that you can see in New York right now". Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club gave the film a score of B+ praising the film as dazzling and highlighting director Johnnie To's cutting movement and stunningly composed figures. Tom Huddleston of Time Out gave the film a score of 5 out of 5 stars praising its stylish dance and song sequences, catchy lyrics and its screenplay by Sylvia Chang as a keenly observed, spiky treatise on office politics.
James Marsh of Twitch Film gave the film a mixed review praising the imagination that the staging captures, but criticising the lack of development of Hong Kong's working development and director To's lack of vision and clear intent. Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter praises the film's lavish decorations and technical accomplishments, but criticizes its simplistic screenplay and being unfocused, with little development of the relationships between the characters.
Awards and nominations Awards and nominations Ceremony Category Recipient Outcome35th Hong Kong Film AwardsBest ActressSylvia ChangBest Art DirectionWilliam Chang, Alfred YauBest Makeup & Costume DesignWilliam Chang, Lui Fung-shanBest Sound DesignDavid Richardson, Andrew Tuason,Wu Shu-yaoBest Visual DesignKen Law, Tommy CheungBest Original Film ScoreLo Tayu, Keith Chan Fai-young52nd Golden Horse Awards'Best ActressSylvia ChangBest Adapted ScreenplaySylvia ChangBest Art DirectionWilliam Chang, Alfred YauBest Makeup & Costume DesignWilliam Chang, Lui Fung-shanBest Original Film SongSong: Why Bother (何必呢) Composer: Lo Tayu Lyricist: Lin Xi Singer: Eason ChanBest Sound EffectsAndrew Tuason, Wu Shu-yao,David Richardson22nd Hong Kong Film Critics Society AwardsBest FilmOfficeBest DirectorJohnnie ToBest ActressSylvia ChangFilm of MeritOffice
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