20 Once AgainPress Kit

GENERAL INFORMATION

Title: 20 Once Again

Genre: Comedy

Language: Mandarin Chinese (with Chinese and English subtitles)

Running Time: 125 mins

Rating: NR

Director: Leste Chen

Cast: YANG Zi Shan (as Meng Li Jun) Grace Guei (as Shen Meng Jun) CHEN Bo Lin (as Tan Xi Ming) LU Han (as Xiang Qian Jin)

Presented by: CJ Entertainment

Produced by: CJ Entertainment

Distributed by: CJ Entertainment

Original Release: January 9th, 2015

US Release: January 16th, 2015

SYNOPSIS

Shen Meng Jun (Grace Guei) is a crotchety 70 year old widow whose family decides its time for her to go to a nursing home. Feeling forlorn, she wanders the streets and impulsively decides to take a final portrait at a photo studio she happens by. Upon leaving, to her astonishment she realizes that she has been transformed back into her 20 year old self. Given a magical second chance at youth, she changes her name to Meng Li Jun (YANG Zi Shan) and decides to chase her dream of becoming a singer. Will she find success and love this second time around?

PRODUCTION NOTES

20 Once Again: Featuring Outstanding New Talent and Critically Acclaimed Veterans

The actors of 20 Once Again represent some of the brightest young hopefuls and established stars in the Chinese film industry. YANG Zi Shan, who plays Meng Li Jun, garnered critical acclaim for her role in the 2013 film So Young, which depicted college students struggling with relationships and their waning carefree youth. While Yang had no formal training as an actress--opting to major in music during her college years--her raw talent has made her one of the most sought out young actresses in China. 20 Once Again is a showcase of her comedic timing, and delicate power as an actress.

As her un-fated match in 20 Once Again, Bolin CHEN brings warmth and sincerity, qualities for which he was praised as the star of the award winning Taiwanese drama In Time With You. Before winning the “Best Actor” trophy for this role, Chen was a constant presence on the silver screen traversing a multitude of genres. He is best known for his groundbreaking first role in Blue Gate Crossing, the haunting coming of age of tale that was a critical darling, his role as the Monkey King in the Jeffrey Lau epic fantasy A Chinese Tall Story, and the dark, philosophical drama Buddha Mountain.

Rounding out the cast are veteran actress Grace Guei, of the Academy Award Nominated Ang Lee film Eat Drink Man Woman, and international superstar Luhan, formerly of the Chinese-Korean pop group, EXO. With an all-star cast and a fantastically fun script, this is a film not to be missed!

Leste Chen, Taiwan’s Internationally Renowned Young Director

Leste Chen has made a name for himself as a director who has traversed the spectrum of commercial and critical success, and excelled in producing excellent Horror flicks and Romantic Comedies. He debuted in the industry at only 25 with The Heirloom (2005), a film that explored one family’s generations-long haunting, dripping with the blood of human sacrifice. Even though Chen moved into the realm of rom-coms after this “thrilling” debut, his love of the “darker side of life,” and luscious color schemes became a trademark.

2011’s Romantic Comedy hit, Love on Credit, was Chen’s greatest commercial success to date, and one of China’s highest grossing films of the year. Juxtaposed with the traditional lighthearted fare expected of a rom-com, the film explored the inner struggles of falling in love with a person who is from a different class and level of wealth. It also bore the trademarks of Chen’s directorial hand, bringing to light the dark, haunting feelings of the human mind with bare, saturated shots.

Finally, Leste Chen’s magnum opus took the form of 2014’s The Great Hypnotist, a mind-bending film about the psychological war waged between a hypnotist and his beautiful, tortured patient. The film, which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival, was truly a culmination of Chen’s young, budding talent.

Variety praised the film for wringing, “haunting atmospherics from the lusciously-lit Euro-style mise-en-scene…[shot] with a fluidity that recalls Chen’s flair for gorgeous tracking shots in his sophomore film, the gay coming-of-ager “Eternal Summer.”

Leste Chen’s latest project 20 Once Again blends the director’s flair for Romantic Comedies, focus on the inner lives of characters, and trademark luscious, saturated shooting style. Even the first frames of 20 Once Again bring to life all of these elements with a dark, yet fantastical, fairy-tale like take on the phases of human life. Under Chen’s direction, 20 Once Again is a heartwarming comedy about the beauty of life and the power of our dreams.

Former EXO Member Luhan Makes His Big Screen Debut in 20 Once Again

Luhan gained international fame as a member of EXO-M, the Chinese branch of the massively popular EXO. The group debuted in 2012 with their first EP MAMA and a second studio album XOXO, which sold over 1.5 million copies and featured the hit songs “Wolf” and “Growl.” EXO’s hit song “Overdose” even came in at #129 on the American “Billboard 200,” which is the highest ranking ever held by a K-Pop band, and it ranked #2 on the “World Albums Chart.”

After departing EXO in 2014, Luhan has sought to establish a new career in acting in his native China. In 20 Once Again, his debut film, he stars as Xiang Qian Jin, a cute, musically talented, yet slightly clueless young man who unwittingly nurses a crush on his now younger grandmother.

Luhan has drawn praise for his acting from his fellow costars and even 20 Once Again’s director, Leste Chen. Veteran actress Grace Guei, complemented the first time movie star by saying, “His acting is very natural. It's not like his first time acting at all." K-Pop fans and non-K-Pop fans alike, can expect to be touched by Luhan’s youthful portrayal of a boy chasing his musical dreams.

20 Once Again: Chasing Youth and Breaking out of the Freaky Friday Mold

Freaky Friday (1976, 2003), holds a special place in the hearts of many American people. The film features a mother and daughter who accidentally switch bodies and reach a better understanding of each other and themselves. The film itself is also a touchstone between the generations of parents and children who have enjoyed successive, successful remakes of the film. The popularity of the “generational body-switching” trope has even continued into more recent films like 17 Again, which featured a switch between father and son. What sets 20 Once Again apart from the pack?

Featuring a magical transformation of a woman back into her youthful self, 20 Once Again explores a near-universal desire: to grasp onto those fleeting, halcyon days of youth where everything seems possible. When the grandmother Shen Meng Jun takes her fateful portrait, she is asked by the photographer to “picture herself at the apex of her beauty.” Her response is, “The apex of my beauty...I

let that slip by.” The film is a touching imagining of one woman’s chance to re-live the “apex” of her life--to chase down all the what-ifs of her youth and see their consequences.

Shen Meng Jun, a woman who lost her youth to life’s circumstances, will have the audience rooting for her much deserved second chance to follow her dreams while remaining her irrepressible and irascible self. Heartwarming, and brilliantly funny, with a dose of introspection, 20 Once Again is a movie that will strike a chord with people of all ages.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Meng Li JunWhen Shen Meng Jun is mysteriously transformed into her 20 year old self, she decides to live her youth as she had always dreamed. She changes her name to Meng Li Jun and pursues a life as a singer. She shocks and awes those she meets with a combination of fresh-faced beauty and “old school” behavior.

YANG Zi ShanYang Zi Shan is a young actress who rose to fame with her first role in the 2013 film So Young. The film followed the transformation of young people into adulthood. The role brought her the Huabiao Award for “Outstanding New Actress.” She cemented her role as one China’s rising talents with the romantic comedy Girls for which she received a great deal of praise as the ever loyal, ever romantic Xiaomei.

In 20 Once Again, Yang plays the role of a grandmother who is transformed into a young woman, which presents the peculiar challenge of playing two roles simultaneously in one body. To capture the mannerisms, the speech, and the heart of an older woman all the while inhabiting a girl’s body (while also being a young actress) would require a performance that is an absolute tour de force of spunk, heart, and comedic timing. Yang succeeds in balancing the comedy of this “fish out of water story” with the inner heartache of a woman who lost her youth and delivers a truly touching, hilarious performance.

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY

So Young (2013), Girls (2014), Zhong Kui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal (2015)

CHARACTERS & CAST

Shen Meng JunShen Meng Jun is a 70 year old woman who was widowed at a young age and left to spend her youth struggling to raise her young son alone. After realizing that her family is planning to send her to a nursing home, she wanders the streets and happens upon a photography studio. She decides to take a beautiful “funeral photo,” but she emerges transformed into a young woman.

GUEI GraceGuei’s acting career has spanned three decades and multiple critically acclaimed films including Ang Lee’s Academy Award nominated film Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), which told the story of society’s shifting mores set against the backdrop of the family dinner table. She continued her critical success with Knot (2006). That film followed two fatefully separated lovers who are reunited over decades and

continents. While typically seen in more dramatic content, 20 Once Again was a perfect fit for Guei’s ability to inject heart and pathos into every project she enters.

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY

MOVIES

Lai Shi, China's Last Eunuch (1988), Miracles (1989), The Wedding Banquet (1993), Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), The Knot (2006).

TELEVISION

Palace of Desire (2000), Qin Wang Li Shimin (2005), Han Wu Da Di (2005), The Dream of Red Mansions (2010), The Legend of Incorruptible Stone (2011).

CHARACTERS & CAST

Tan Xi MingTan Xi Ming is a young and talented music producer, who fatefully hears the voice of Meng Li Jun from the stage of a senior citizens home. Bewitched by her “old school” charms and beautiful voice, he tries to help Meng Li Jun accomplish her dreams, all the while falling in love with her.

CHEN Bo LinThis Taiwanese actor burst onto the acting scene in 2002 with Blue Gate Crossing, which established him as one the best new actors to watch. He continued to gain critical success with the film Buddha Mountain (2010), the story of a group twenty-somethings who explore their own fleeting youth and the ephemerality of life. In 2011, he was awarded “Best Actor” at the 47th annual Golden Bell Awards for his role in the romantic drama In Time With You. In his young career,

Chen has starred in over 20 features spanning multiple genres. He brings his youth, considerable acting talent, and experience to his role in 20 Once Again.

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY

MOVIESTwins Effect 2: Blade of The Rose (2004), About Love (2005), Kung Fu Dunk (2008), Gasp (2009), Buddha Mountain (2010), Lock Me Up, Tie Him Down (2014), The Continent (2014).

TELEVISIONCrystal Boys (2003), In Time With You (2011)

CHARACTERS & CAST

Xiang Qian JinXiang Qian Jin is an aspiring rockstar and the frontman of an unknown rock group with hopes of making it big. However, when he unknowingly meets his grandmother’s younger self, he is entranced by her enchanting voice. With his grandmother as his band’s new lead singer, will they be able to achieve their musical dreams?

LU HanLu Han rose to fame as a member of internationally renowned Korean-Chinese boy band EXO, known for their hit songs “Wolf,” “Growl,” and “Overdose.” Even after departing the group in 2014, he was named “Asia’s Most Valuable Male Star” by Baidu and received the “Asian Popular Idol Award” from iQiyi. While 20 Once Again is his first film, his youthful exuberance shines in this role.

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY

MAMA (2012), XOXO (2013), Miracles in December (2013), Overdose (2014).

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

China’s Cross-genre Master- Leste Chen

Leste Chen debuted as a director at just 25 years old with the film The Heirloom (2005), a horror film set in a home haunted by ghosts and human sacrifice, which established him as a rising talent. Fast forward to 2014, Chen reached the apex of his career in the Horror/Thriller genre with The Great Hypnotist (2014), which stars well known actress and activist Karen Mok. The Great Hypnotist features a thrilling psychological battle between a hypnotist and his beautifully challenging patient. Hong Kong’s Fortissimo Films went so far as to say that the “’Hypnotist’ is a game-changer representing a new direction in genre films for China.”

In interviews, Chen has explained that he is fascinated with the Horror and Thriller genres because of his, “own value system, which always sees some of the dark side of life.” Unsurprisingly, he is a self-described Hitchcock fan, who is “inspired by the way Hitchcock framed his suspense films.” Both of these elements, darkness and suspense, are common threads through Chen’s Horror films, comedic works, and even his more delicate and dramatic works, including Eternal Summer (2006). After the early success of The Heirloom (2005), Chen’s follow-up film, Eternal Summer (2006), was a complicated, dark look at the inner lives of young people as they define their sexuality and emerge into adulthood

And yet, Leste Chen is not a director to be defined by any genre. After these two debut films, he largely moved into arena of “romantic comedies.” He not only entered the arena, but dominated it with such commercial successes as Say Yes! (2013), Love on Credit (2011), and Heartbeat Love (2012). Even though these films are fun and lighthearted, each of them is imbued with Chen’s passion for “the dark side of life.”

Say Yes!, like many rom-coms, could be seen as wish fulfillment, wherein a man and a woman from different walks of life meet and fall in love regardless of the gap in their social standing. However, what sets this film apart is that it reflects on the deep, lasting problems that occur when a wealthy, classically trained musician falls in love with a poor, working class man. It is one of the few films of the Chinese romantic comedy genre to flirt with such real, gritty problems in seemingly dream-like relationships. Even looking at 2012’s Heartbeat Love, Chen’s ability to juxtapose a positively zany, fantastical plot about young love with the grim realities of death and dishonesty is something that gives this work and others an added poignancy.

20 Once Again promises to be a film which touchingly combines Chen’s deftness with light romantic comedies and his experience with darker, more character-driven material. 20 Once Again, at its most basic, is a story about an older woman who is given a chance at living her youth twice. It is fantasy at its most fun. But, peel back the fantasy, and the true heart of the story is an older woman who is being sent to a nursing home even after sacrificing her youth to her family, only to be given a mysterious chance to

live her most treasured dream. This film with such heart amongst such fantasy is beautifully brought to the silver screen by Chen’s hand. SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY

The Heirloom (2005), Eternal Summer (2006), Love on Credit (2011), HeartBeat Love (2012), Say Yes! (2013), The Great Hypnotist (2014)