Office (華麗上班族) is a 2015 Hong Kong musical dramedy directed by Johnnie To. It stars Chow Yun-fat, Sylvia Chang, Eason Chan and Tang Wei. Chang also wrote the screenplay, based on her 2008 play Design for Living. The music is by Lo-Ta-yu.
Hong Kong-based MegaCorp Jones & Sunn is in the process of going public under the direction of its chairman Ho Chung-Ping (Chow Yun-fat) and CEO Winnie Cheung (Sylvia Chang), who have been carrying on an affair for years while Ho's wife is hospitalized in a comatose state. As lawyers and accountants begin studying the books for the IPO, ambitious new employee Lee Xiang (Wang Ziyi) starts to learn the ropes of big business from high-ranking Jones & Sunn officials David Wong (Eason Chan), Sophie (Tang Wei), and Ka-Ling (Tien Hsin) alongside another new arrival Kat Ho (Lang Yueting) who unbeknownst to everybody but Winnie, is Ho's daughter. The business and personal lives of these individuals cross and collide during the audit, which happens over the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis.
The movie was shot in 3D and features hyper-stylized art direction, depicting the financial world of Hong Kong as a series of translucent wireframe cues with neon lighting. It was released in China and Hong Kong in September 2015.
Tropes Associated With This Movie Include:
- And Starring: "Special Appearance by Chow Yun-fat"
- Bilingual Dialogue: Used by David as a challenge to Kat. He begins speaking to the American leadership of MADAME in English, before switching to Chinese halfway through. He then challenges Kat to translate. Her ability to speak English even better than David is another clue that she's not an average entry-level employee.
- Bittersweet Ending: The IPO of Jones & Sunn is cancelled as a result of the 2008 economic collapse and revelations of corporate malfeasance, Sophie, Winnie, & others lose their jobs, David is implied to have died by suicide and Winnie & Ho have ended their affair. But Kat and Lee have become repaired their relationship and Kat has been placed in charge of a promising project at the company's newest acquisition MADAME.
- Crowd Song: Several, mostly illustrating the culture of work at a MegaCorp like Jones & Sunn.
- Catchphrase: "My name is Lee Xiang. "Lee" like Ang Lee, "Xiang" like dream!"
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: All over the place. Winnie secretly begins an deal with the cosmetics company MADAME that Ho plans to acquire, and when Ho learns about it he steals her idea and places Kat in charge of it, to say nothing of the maneuvering between David, Sophie, and Winnie in regards to the bookkeeping ahead of the IPO.
- Conspicuous Consumption: Ka-Ling has a whole song about it.
- Driven to Suicide: Implied with David, who is last seen standing through his sunroof while driving at high speeds through Hong Kong after his embezzlement and debt is exposed.
- Manipulative Bastard: David, who seduces Sophie in an attempt to cover up the embezzlement of company funds he did to fund his attempts at gaming the stock market.
- Married to the Job: Sophie is portrayed this way, with her devotion to her work at Jones & Sunn causing a strain on her relationship with her boyfriend. Lee also begins to act like this, which risks straining his relationship with Kat.
- Non-Idle Rich: Kat sincerely wants to earn her own way at the company, and is shown to be an effective worker.
- Not So Above It All: Sophie appears to be unapologetically Married to the Job at first, but breaks down in tears after she breaks up with her boyfriend Dong.
- Office Romance: Ho & Winnie, Kat & Lee, and David & Sophie.
- Pass Fail: Kat's attempts at passing off as an entry-level employee and not a daughter of privilege aren't entirely successful; she dresses nicely, uses her personal driver (at first) and can speak English better than some of the higher-ups. Lee notices this right away and can tell she's hiding something.
- Secretly Rich: Kat, but she's not very good at it. As Winnie points out, Kat still wears designer clothes and uses her personal driver to go to and from work, both of which are rather conspicuous for a low-level employee.
