OFFICE 3D

"The genre-hopping Hong Kong master Johnnie To takes his first step into the world of musicals in a predictably idiosyncratic fashion with Office … one of the most rewarding films of the year." – 4:3

During the global financial crisis of 2008, a financial firm called Jones & Sunn is preparing to be listed on the stock exchange. The ruthless CEO, Ms Chang (played by Sylvia Chang, who wrote the stageplay on which the film is based), and chairman, Ho Chung-ping (Chow Yun-fat), are having an affair, despite the Chairman's wife being in a coma. His daughter, Kat, has secretly started in an entry-level role in order to learn the company from the bottom up.

Glamorous, fast-paced and extravagant, Hong Kong auteur Johnnie To's all-singing, sometimes-dancing Office is a shrewd takedown of capitalist greed and corruption. Stunning in the Australian premiere of its 3D version, the film's steely sets – created by acclaimed production designer William Chang – recall the Jacques Tati classic Playtime or Jerry Lewis' The Ladies Man (MIFF 2016), ticking and whirring like the mechanics of a giant clock. Understandably winning the prize for Best Art Direction at the Hong Kong Film Awards, Office is never less than a sheer delight from one of contemporary cinema's leading lights.

"As fundamentally structuralist as ever (though he hides it well), To stages the complex romantic and financial-scheme-devising interactions of his stellar cast with a fluency that dazzles … a sharp confection that's brilliantly enjoyable." – Cinema Scope