ROMANTIC movie “B for Busy” by young female director Shao Yihui will hit cinemas across China on Christmas Eve. Renowned filmmaker Xu Zheng is the film’s producer and lead actor. It also stars veteran actresses Ma Yili, Wu Yue and Ni Hongjie as three women of different backgrounds and personalities. Shao focuses her lens on the delicate emotions of the three women living in Shanghai. They are a single mother, a divorced tango enthusiast and a wealthy woman. Their lives intersect with the appearance of Lao Bai, a lonely man who makes a living by teaching art. “B for Busy” also examines how middle-aged people pursue love at a more mature age, and how they interpret relationships differently. Wu, known for her impressive performances in the acclaimed series “The Pavilion” and “Crime Crackdown,” said that many people portray the love of middle-aged people in a materialistic way, however, their love can also be very pure. Shao, who also wrote the script, noted that people can have different understandings of love because it comes in many different forms. She hopes to convey a more mature concept of love that has diverse perspectives and more tolerance of the various options in a relationship. “Middle-aged people are very familiar with life’s difficulties and how complex humans are,” said Xu. “They have open hearts and minds to all kinds of possibilities that life can offer.” In the eyes of Ma, there are no simple answers to many real-life emotional problems. The film truly depicts the emotional demands of people in a particular phase of life. The film’s theme song is performed by Mao Buyi in an electronic style. Shanghainese dialect, landmark buildings and scenes of the city are also featured. Romance and suspense movies will take center stage during Christmas and New Year. “Sheep Without a Shepherd 2,” chronicling a father’s efforts to save his son, will be released Dec. 17. The first installment of the movie was considered a “dark horse” in 2019, taking in around 1.3 billion yuan (US$203 million) at the box office. “Moses on the Plain,” a romantic suspense film by Diao Yinan, will also hit cinemas across China on Christmas Eve. Diao’s suspense film “Black Coal, Thin Ice” won the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival. The new film, adapted from Shuang Xuetao’s novel of the same name, is about the love and redemption of several people who are involved in a murder. (SD-Agencies) | 