Director Han Han is determined to win again with his new film "Only Fools Rush In," and although the audience didn't rush in this time, the film still showcases Han's strong personal style. 

The movie is inspired by "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry and takes its title from a lyric in the song "Can't Help Falling in Love" made famous by Elvis Presley. It was a front runner at the beginning of the Spring Festival film season, regarded as the most lucrative of the year. However, it quickly fell down the ranking after negative audience reviews rushed in, making just over 518 million yuan by Feb. 13 and failing to live up to expectations. Han's previous three films "The Continent" (2014), "Duckweed" (2017) and "Pegasus" (2019), made 628 million yuan, 1.05 billion yuan and 1.73 billion yuan respectively. 

Han, 39, has had numerous titles throughout his professional career and prides himself on retaining a teenage spirit and passion. He was first famous as a writer, then he went on to become a professional car racer. He was also a respectable blogger and social media influencer. Then, in 2014, he challenged himself to become a film director and has enjoyed a successful filmmaking career ever since. 

In "Only Fools Rush In," Han continues his use of film as a means to tell his story about youth – the idealist journey, the harsh and ironic realities – while capturing his passion for speed. 

The new film tells the story of a motorcycle enthusiast played by the young star Liu Haoran. His unreliable father, played by comedy megastar Shen Teng, lives away in Guangzhou and the two rarely see each other. He lives in an island town and performs motorcycle stunts at the wharf. After falling in love with a waitress at a small restaurant played by Liu Haocun, he approaches her and joins her drama-prone brother's motorcycle team, competing in local races. But their lives are turned upside down after an accident, and the innocent young man, along with his girlfriend, has to embark on a motorcycle road trip to Guangzhou where they end up drifting in the city as they struggle to deal with their difficult situation.

"I can't describe the film in one sentence, but it's a road movie. You may laugh a lot in the theater, but you will feel it's a very lonely movie in the end. Yet, you can still feel love in it," Han said. He went on to describe the relationship between the two young lovers in the film. "They support each other and want to do something for each other, but they also hope they are independent. It is great to know someone has your back and supports you."

Actress Liu Haocun, an emerging star who previously starred in two of Zhang Yimou's movies "One Second" (2020) and "Cliff Walkers" (2021), said her character has a strong heart and she tried to portray her with complex layers during the beautiful moments she stars in. "The director is really nice, and he gave us a lot of room to perform and improvise freely," she said.  

For actor Liu Haoran, he loves Han Han's unique style of dry humor, and he saw his character in the film had a big problem with his original family. "He didn't fit in other people's lives. He is too independent and naive, and didn't take lessons from real society, so many things he said don't go along with social norms and logic."

Han had big ambitions for "Only Fools Rush In," and though the film is cross-genre it's also unbalanced. It integrates young romance, motorcycle racing and stunts, catchy dialogue, nostalgia and Han's symbolic marks, exploring life, philosophy, destiny and father-son relationships. But it is also about loneliness, death, depression and cruelty. Many plotlines fall short and disappointed wider audiences looking for fun during the holiday. 

In one scene, the young men are swimming beside a shallow shore where they encounter a giant cargo ship, which is impossible in reality. In another, two lovers can't open the door of a hotel room because they don't know how to swipe the room key, leaving them to sleep in the hotel corridor, despite the fact that they know how to use mobile phones and the internet, where they could easily find an answer to their problem. "Trying to portray them as innocent and naive persons doesn't mean making up such plots to make them look like fools," one internet user criticized. 

More criticism rolled in, from "too many deliberate coincidences" to the film's tragic ending. In the end, Han Han is too cruel to himself and his work, maybe because he wants so much to get out of his comfort zone. But a lot of people in the audience believe he didn't offer any inspiration or hope in this seemingly poetic, romantic and painful coming-of-age adventure. "On the morning of auspicious Spring Festival, to watch such a tragic film does bring bad luck," read one internet user's comment that was co-signed by many others on Douban, China's film review website. One film critic also noted Han didn't think through combining his idealist story with realism, which gave rise to much of the backlash.

Nevertheless, Han may still be able to fulfill one aspiration for the film. As the world increasingly turns to electric vehicles to protect the environment, he feels it is urgent and necessary to document real sounds and images of vehicles with internal combustion engines. He pointed out that he felt it's more difficult and challenging to record a motorcycle race than a car race. "Cinematographers and drones can get very close to shoot car races, for example, but you can't do the same for motorcycles. If you are too close and even hit the motorcycles, motorcyclists will get hurt and other horrible consequences will follow."

To shoot the film, the cast practiced a lot. Liu Haoran even got a motorcycle driver's license after taking the professional exam.

For Han Han, he still believes that even though human emotions and relationships can change over time, "the motorcycle you love will always be there for you."

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