It’s worth noting that there’s probably a certain expectation when hearing the following words “a Johnnie To musical.” One thinking his classical formal talents would lean towards something that could resemble one of Vincente Minnelli’s MGM masterpieces, yet it’s probably closer to one of Fritz Lang’s nightmares; an architectural hell, the artificiality of the sets; lines and bars only enforcing the idea of a prison, and the giant clock in the center of the office, on a constant countdown to doomsday.
Set in 2008 at the point of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy (though one doesn’t remember the financial crisis seven years ago looking this cool), Office‘s tale of “corporate intrigue” sees young and old juxtaposed as two new employees attempt to work their way up through the company Jones & Sunn, all while two old guards at the very top engaging in greed and trickery behind the scenes.
They being the two romance-destined upstarts hoping to climb their way up the company: innocent 24-year old Lee and the mysterious Kat (who has a somewhat fishy background as the daughter of restaurant mogul), and the scheming Chairman Ho Chung-ping (a surprisingly spry Chow Yun-Fat) trying his hand at winning the trust of company CEO Cheung Wai (Sylvia Chang, also the film’s writer), yet only for his personal gain.