''A Simple Life'' (), also known as ''Sister Peach'', is a 2011 Hong Kong

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Ann Hui Ann Hui On-wah, (; born 23 May 1947) is a film director, producer, screenwriter and actress from Hong Kong who is one of the most critically acclaimed filmmakers of the Hong Kong New Wave. She is known for her films about social issues in ...

and starring

Andy Lau Andy Lau Tak-wah ( zh, order=t,j, t=劉德華, j=Lau4 Dak1 Waa4; born Lau Fook-wing; 27 September 1961), is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He was named the "Fourth Tiger" among the Five Tiger Generals of TVB in the 1 ...

and Deanie Ip. Ip, in the lead role of Sister Peach, won the Best Actress Award at the

68th Venice International Film Festival The 68th annual Venice Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August and 10 September 2011, at Venice Lido in Italy. American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky was the jury president for the main competition. Italian actre ...

. Originally, Hui considered retiring after making this film. However, due to the film's success, she changed her mind and went on to work on other projects. Lau and Ip had not worked together since 1999's '' Prince Charming''. Production of the film officially began during

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...

. It was filmed in

Mei Foo Sun Chuen Mei Foo Sun Chuen or simply Mei Foo is a large private housing estate in Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Mei Foo Sun Chuen was the first large scale private housing estate in Hong Kong and at the time of completion, the 99-tower complex ...

. Production was wrapped on 6 April 2011 after two months of filming. The film competed in the

. It was also selected as the Hong Kong entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist. ''A Simple Life'' was an official selection for competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival, where it won 4 awards. Deanie Ip won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for her role in this film. She is the first Hong Konger to win this prize. In March, she also became the first Hong Konger to win the Asian Film Award for Best Actress. At the same event, director Ann Hui became the first woman to win the Lifetime Achievement Award. At the 31st Hong Kong Film Awards Ceremony, ''A Simple Life'' won 5 major prizes (film, director, screenplay, actor, actress), repeating what happened with Hui's '' Summer Snow'' in 1996. Ann Hui has won Best Director (4 times) more than anyone else at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Ip is the oldest Best Actress recipient (64 years old at the time of her win).

Plot

Roger Leung (

), an unmarried middle aged

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

film producer, lives with Chung Chun-to ( Deanie Ip), a maidservant who has worked for his family for decades. Returning home after a business trip, Roger discovers Chung on the floor and calls for an ambulance. At the hospital, Roger discovers that Chung has had a stroke but rather than ask for rehabilitation, Chung decides she wants to retire and asks to be put in a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...

. While looking for a nursing home, Roger discovers one nearby that is owned by his friend. He installs Chung there and visits her in between his production jobs. While visiting To, he tells her friends and neighbours that he is her god son in order to explain their connection. Visiting Chung in the nursing home allows Roger to become closer to her. Eventually, other members of his family, who mostly live abroad, come to visit her. Roger's mother proposes that they renovate an old apartment that the family owns and allow To to spend the remainder of her days there. However, Chung grows more sickly and suffers a second stroke causing her condition to deteriorate and nullifying the family's plans for her. Eventually, Chung is hospitalized a final time and Roger makes the decision to allow her to die. At her funeral, the members of Roger's family pay their respects to her and while Roger delivers the eulogy, a man from the nursing home comes to give her flowers.

Production

Producer Roger Lee began writing loose fragments together and showed them to director

. She persuaded him it was enough for a screenplay and encouraged him through his writing process.

and Deanie Ip were chosen in part because of their close relationship to one another as Ip is Lau's godmother and had already played his mother in several films.

Cast

as Roger Leung (梁羅傑), a film producer * Deanie Ip as Sister Peach / Chung Chun-to (桃姐/鍾春桃), a servant * Wang Fuli as Roger's mother * Qin Hailu as Ms Choi (蔡姑娘), nursing home manager * Paul Chun as Uncle Kin (堅叔) a resident at the nursing home * Leung Tin as Headmaster (校長, a resident at the nursing home * Yu Man-si as Sharon, Roger's older sister *

Eman Lam Eman Lam Yee-man ( zh, 林二汶, born 25 October 1982) is a Hong Kong singer and songwriter. Lam and Ellen Joyce Loo were part of the vocal duo at17. In contrast with Ellen Joyce Loo (who had been writing songs which incline more toward Cant ...

as Carmen. Roger's administrative assistant * Hui Pik-kei as Aunt Kam(金姨), a resident at the nursing home * Elena Kong as Aunt Kam's daughter * Jason Chan as Jason, Roger's nephew * Ho So-ying as Aunt Mui (梅姑), a resident at the nursing home

Cameos

* Anthony Wong as Grasshopper (草蜢), care home owner and Roger's old friend *

Chapman To Chapman To (, born 8 June 1972), born Edward Ng Cheuk-cheung (), is a Hong Kong-Taiwanese actor. He is best known for his roles in films such as ''Infernal Affairs'' and ''Initial D (film), Initial D''. He is also the founder of his own multimedia ...

as a dentist * Raymond Chow as himself, one of the guests at film premiere * Yu Dong as himself *

Sammo Hung Samuel "Sammo" Hung Kam-bo ( zh, t=洪金寶, j=Hung4 Gam1-bou2; born 7 January 1952) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and Film director, director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a figh ...

as himself *

Tsui Hark Tsui Hark (, , born 15 February 1950), born Tsui Man-kong (), is a Hong Kong filmmaker. A major director in the Golden Age of Cinema of Hong Kong, Hong Kong cinema, Tsui gained critical and commercial success with films such as ''Zu Warriors from ...

as himself * Francis Mak as one of Roger's old classmates * Lawrence Lau as one of Roger's old classmates * Dennis Chan as Vincent * Ning Hao as himself, one of the guests at film premiere * Lam Yee-nok as himself, the pastor at To's funeral * Gordon Lam as himself, one of the guests at film premiere * Law Lan as herself, one of the guests at film premiere * Jim Chim as one of Roger's old classmates * Tam Ping-man as himself, a visitor of the nursing home * Eva Lai as himself, a visitor of the nursing home * Kung Suet-fa as the nursing home receptionist * Queenie Chu as the receptionist at investment bank * Tyson Chak as Air-con fixer at investment bank * Hiromi Wada as visiting singer of the nursing home *

Angelababy Angela Yeung Wing ( zh, s=杨颖, p=Yáng Yǐng; born 28 February 1989), better known by her stage name Angelababy, is a Chinese model and actress. In 2013, she was chosen by '' Southern Metropolis Entertainment Weekly'' as one of the New Fou ...

as herself, one of the guests at film premiere * John Shum as himself, one of the guests at film premiere * Stanley Kwan as himself, one of the guests at film premiere *

Andrew Lau Andrew Lau Wai-keung ( zh, t=劉偉強, born 4 April 1960) is a Hong Kong film director, producer, and cinematographer. Lau began his career in the 1980s and 1990s, serving as a cinematographer to filmmakers such as Ringo Lam, Wong Jing and ...

as himself, one of the guests at film premiere

Box office

In China, after being shown for only four days, the film made US$5.2 million and reached second place in the top gross film of the week ending 11 March 2012.

Critical reception

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave the film 4 stars. He wrote, "It expresses hope in human nature. It is one of the year's best films." ''Hollywood Reporter''s Neil Young wrote that "Film festivals looking for undemanding crowd-pleasers will want to check it out, even at its currently excessive 118-minute running time – much too long for what is indeed a pretty "simple" affair." ''Variety''s Justin Chang commented: "Fittingly for a film about the challenges and rewards of looking after the sick and aging, this well-observed, pleasantly meandering dramedy requires a measure of patience, and some judicious trimming would improve its chances for export. But the moving, never tearjerking lead performances by Andy Lau and Deanie Ip are strong selling points for Hui's following at home and abroad."

Top ten lists

The film has appeared on the following critics' top ten lists for the best films of 2012:

Awards and nominations

''My 30 Work Days''

The book, '' My 30 Work Days'', was written by Andy Lau extracted from diaries and notes that he wrote while shooting the ''A Simple Life''. The book contains Lau's 30 personal diaries and notes detailing his observations and thoughts about issues raised by the story of the film, in particular appreciation of and care for the elderly, along with 300 behind the scene photographs taken by Lau and his colleagues. The book was published on 27 February 2017 by

Ming Pao ''Ming Pao'' () is a Chinese-language newspaper published by Media Chinese International in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, ''Ming Pao'' established four overseas branches in North America; each provides independent reporting on local news and coll ...

Publications in

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simple Life 2011 films Hong Kong drama films 2011 drama films 2010s Cantonese-language films Films directed by Ann Hui Best Film Hong Kong Film Award winners Drama films based on actual events Films about old age Films about film directors and producers Domestic workers in films Films set in Hong Kong Films shot in Hong Kong Films whose director won the Best Director Golden Horse Award Polybona Films films Films with screenplays by Susan Chan Hong Kong New Wave films 2010s Hong Kong films Films about servants