The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival closes its 27th edition with LOVE IN DISGUISE, the directorial debut of Mandopop superstar Leehom Wang. Produced by Taipei-based Serenity Entertainment, sister company to Cherry Sky Films, the production company of past Festival favorites BETTER LUCK TOMORROW (Festival 2002), FINISHING THE GAME (Festival 2007) and PING PONG PLAYA (Festival 2008), Wang’s romantic comedy follows in the footsteps of recent films directed by pop stars-turned-directors (see: Jay Chou’s SECRET). A likeable modern Chinese take on Cyrano De Bergerac, LOVE IN DISGUISE features numerous comic and romantic set-pieces, and enough great-looking stars to leave audiences swooning.

 

Du Ming-wan (director Wang, riffing here on his real-life professional persona) is a famous pop star with all the trappings of stardom. In fact, his life is not far from the frantic lifestyle of contemporaries in the J-Pop or K-Pop worlds, with sold-out concerts, hordes of female fans, intrusive press, the whole nine. His life is carefully managed by a motherly manager (Joan Chen, in a winning comic role), and offers just a glimpse into Taipei’s super-heated superstar culture. For a guy who has everything, though, there’s still a void in his life — true love. With the help of his friend Wei Zhi-Bai (Chen Han-Dian), Du decides to go incognito and blend into society as a regular Joe. He stumbles upon a classical Chinese orchestra performance, and becomes enamored with Song Xiao-Qing, a guzheng soloist who Du had already (literally) run into earlier. A student at Shanghai’s Far East Music Academy, she is already smitten with an accomplished, but arrogant virtuoso named Mufan. In his attempt to spend more time with Song, Du and Wei enroll at the Far East Music Academy, with Du taking the identity of “Ah Duh,” a poor student from the fictional “Nail Town.” Du promises to help Song get together with Mufan. But as the two grow closer together, how will Du reveal his true feelings, and to a greater extent, his true identity? And how will Du’s budding romance skew with his pop-star life, already overloaded with myriad professional commitments and obligations?

 

Okay, we’ll cop to it… LOVE IN DISGUISE is formula filmmaking, but it’s winning formula filmmaking at its best and most charming. Director Lee, taking on a difficult multi-hyphenate role as director, co-screenwriter, and star, carries off his performance as Du with assured bravado and even incorporates a mix of traditional and popular musical forms in his role as faux music student. Wang’s dual role of Du/Ah Duh foregrounds the stark distinctions between Mandopop trapping as dance choreography and, ahem, autotune; and the use of traditional Chinese instrumentation — the guzheng, erhu, and other instruments are foregrounded prominently, and give flight to Du’s many fantasies that define his romantic visions (Johnny Lin’s CGI effects play an indispensable starring role throughout). Not to be outdone, Wang’s supporting cast, including Liu Yifei (THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM), Chen Han-Dian, Qiao Zhenyu, and the magnificent Joan Chen, amp up the comedy quotient and add a welcome dose of levity to this winning rom-com. LOVE IN DISGUISE marks an auspicious directorial debut; we eagerly look forward to Wang’s next filmmaking effort with as much zeal as that on-screen legion of fans both new and old.