From art house to box office

Director Xu Jinglei is exploring less experimental and more commercial territory. Sun Li reports.

Director Xu Jinglei stepped out of the art house and explored commercial filmmaking territory with her 2010 romantic comedy, Go Lala Go!. It was a box-office triumph that simultaneously subverted her signature avant-garde style and demonstrated her directorial dexterity. Xu will bring the second act of her commercial endeavors this year with Dear Enemy. Despite centering on workplace romance like Go Lala Go!, Xu says Dear Enemy is her first entertainment-oriented directorial work tinged with suspense and aiming to excite audiences at every twist and turn.

"Go Lala Go! delved into office politics and made people laugh, but essentially it was not a purely entertaining film. It's a bildungsroman," the actress-turned-director explains.