The 2008 Chinese romantic comedy If You Are The One (非诚勿扰) will play at the Maridon Museum on October 27 as the third installment of its Chinese Film Series. A 2009 Hollywood Reporter review provides a summary:
[Ge You] plays Qin Fen, a U.S. emigre who wants to get married in his native Beijing. He advertises on love personals, emphasizing: "Only sincere ones need apply" -- which is the film's Chinese title. Yet sincerity is the one quality missing from his disastrous dates with an assortment of women who come armed with an arsenal of ulterior motives.The October 27th showing starts at 6:30 pm and is presented by Dr. Wei Bian of Slippery Rock University.
Like some of the blind date gags in "Must Love Dogs," these encounters have their rib-tickling moments (such as one girl trying to sell graveyard plots on the date), but the culturally specific situations and wordplay lose some flavor in translation.
Qin meets flight attendant Smiley (Shu Qi) and is instantly smitten. Amusingly, he wraps his compliments in layers of sarcasm and mock insincerity. Smiley, it turns out, is languishing in a no-hope affair with a married man. They get sloshed and confide their painful pasts to each other. This is one point when the film engages on a heartfelt emotional level.
The Maridon, an Asian art museum, is located at 322 North McKean St. in downtown Butler (map), roughly 40 miles north of Pittsburgh.
