“Hard Love” is my second feature film
It’s about the 5 single women living in first tier cities in China
Among them is a very brave single mom
And there is Maggie, a typical female office elite
And Yue, who chooses love over bread
And the little princess Kitty
There is also one who can represent more living in first-tier cities
An average office worker Mei
Through their stories
I want to have a discussion about marriage and this era
The relation between them
“Are you married?”
“I have not yet”
“I want someone who works in Beijing”
“I’m not going home”
Mei comes to Beijing from her hometown
Upholding her dream, she works nine to five everyday
A blind date party in Beijing
“Cause most of it is about your work”
“Others are requirements”
She has such doubts
“Only this part is about myself”
Maggie, well educated, pretty, with very good salary
She has a very tight schedule
A lot of marks on her calendar
“I have other fun things to do other than dating, okay?”
“Her egg freezing is more like an insurance for herself”
“Yay, I’m going to lay some eggs”
“Don’t say that”
“I’m gonna cry”
Yue is miserable after breaking up with her boyfriend
So she turned to online dating
She craves for true love
Unfortunately
She meets a man who is not ready for it
“After all the Internet is a virtual setting”
“The more cautious you are, the less luck you get”
For Tao, a single mom
The character she plays in front of live camera
Is nothing like herself
Her families can’t help her
She meets all kinds of problems bringing up her child
She overcomes the difficulties and is now enjoying her life
“Tell him how old is your mom?”
“Mom, five years old”
The reason I started making the film “Hard Love”
Mostly I believe
Is the discrimination I felt because of my age
I was on a hunger strike when my mother urged me to get married
“Dear God”
“Please let my daughter find her lover”
Why our parents are so anxious about this
And we don’t care about it at all
My film started from this question
The shooting officially started in December 2018
And lasted for over half a year
The final 5 heroines were selected from more than 20 single men and women
I didn’t want to disturb them
So I didn’t have an audio guy
They gave me so much trust
Talked to me about their most private thoughts
“Hard Love” is not just about individuals
It’s a problem of the era
The causes of the trend to be single
Include the Internet age, urbanization, female independence
“When it comes to moving”
“Do you think man can be helpful”
“Not necessarily”
“So you won’t be like”
“I need help now so I will get myself a boyfriend”
“You can’t do it this way”
“You must marry for love”
I want “Hard Love” to be a fire
A fire that breaks
The indifference especially between people in the city
I hope that after all we have been through
We can keep the softness inside
Continue to believe in intimate relationship
Believe in love
“Love never ends”