• Source: Miss Shampoo

Miss Shampoo (Chinese: 請問，還有哪裡需要加強) is a 2023 Taiwanese romance comedy film directed and written by Giddens Ko. Adapted from Ko's 2010 novel Precisely Out of Control, the film stars Vivian Sung, Daniel Hong, Kai Ko, Emerson Tsai, and Ying Wei-min. It centers on a triad boss (Hong) who falls in love with a hairstylist (Sung) after saving him from an assassination attempt.
Originally pitched to adapt Precisely Out of Control into a feature film for 21st Century Fox, the project was scrapped due to the company's acquisition. Ko then decided to adapt only the fourth chapter of the novel with Machi Xcelsior Studios, following their collaboration on Till We Meet Again (2021). The screenplay was conceived while Ko was producing Bad Education (2022), and principal photography spanned from August to October 2022.
The film had its world premiere as the opening film of the 25th Taipei Film Festival on 22 June 2023, followed by a theatrical release in Taiwan on 26 July. It received four nominations in the 60th Golden Horse Awards and seven nominations in the 26th Taipei Film Awards.




Synopsis


Tai, a gangster being hunted by a group of Thai assassins, enters a hair salon seeking refuge. Fen, the apprentice, helps conceal him and manages to evade the assassins. Tai survives, but his boss Hsing is murdered by the killers. The other bosses in his triad agree to let Tai take over his deceased boss's business. To express his gratitude, Tai visits Fen's salon with his loyal lieutenants Long Legs, Fishy, and Bryan, asking Fen to style his hair. To their surprise, Fen is untalented and leaves Tai's hair look terrible. However, her fearless attitude in the face of the gangsters impresses Tai. Falling for her, Tai begins to pressure his gang members and even threaten students in public to have their hair styled by Fen.
Long Legs is eager to track down his boss's murderer and starts searching for clues. He manages to locate the Thai assassins at a hotel they stayed, but discovers that the owner Tung is actually a longtime acquaintance of Tai and had no involvement in the plot. Frustrated by the lack of leads, Long Legs is angered by Tai's seemingly carefree attitude and disappoints with his apparent softness since meeting Fen. During a triad meeting, the other bosses attempt to undermine Tai's faction, making him suspect that one of the three other bosses is the mastermind behind the assassination. After the meeting, Tai catches Fen's boyfriend cheating and orders him to break up with her. When Fen is heartbroken over the breakup, Tai comforts her, leaving a good impression. The two begin dating and form a relationship. To surprise Fen, Tai invites Cheng, a baseball player she idolizes, to a party. However, seeing Cheng drunk and friendly with the gangsters leads Fen to believe he is associated with them, shattering her fantasy. She scolds Cheng and storms out. Tai tries to reconcile with Fen, but they have a falling out and break up.
Cheng later visits Fen's salon, explaining that Tai was his high school baseball team captain, expelled for protecting his teammates from harassment by thugs. Even as a professional player, Tai continues to protect him from gang harassment and refuses to participate in match-fixing. Learning the truth, Fen regrets breaking up with Tai and decides to reach out to him. Meanwhile, Long Legs is massaging with Four-Eye, Boss Chuan's lieutenant, who invites him to betray Tai. He then receives a message from Tai asking to meet at a bathhouse, with Four-Eye secretly observing. During their meeting, Tai expresses his desire to leave the triad for Fen and asks Long Legs to take his place, but Long Legs hesitates. Tai then reveals what happened on the night of Hsing's death, where Hsing pushed him toward the assassins to buy time for his escape, making Tai reluctant to seek revenge. Realizing the truth, the two reconcile. However, the Thai assassins arrive and begin to attack Tai and Long Legs. Outnumbered and severely injured, they worry Fen, who has been anxious about their prolonged absence.
Four-Eye then shows up and reveals Chuan as the mastermind, stabbing Tai in the stomach. However, Long Legs has summoned help using his smartwatch, and Four-Eye surrenders when Fishy and Bryan arrive to rescue their boss. After their escape, the gang initially wants to take Tai to the hospital, but he insists on going to Fen's salon instead. At Tai's request, Tung breaks into Chuan's lair, killing him in revenge. Once the revenge is complete and seeing Fen safe, Tai slowly closes his eyes in the car.
In the mid-credits scene, Tai recovers with a mysterious strength and enters Fen's salon, hugging her tightly as they confess to each other.




Cast


Vivian Sung as Fen, a hair salon apprentice who aspires to become a hairstylist
Daniel Hong as Tai, a timid gang leader who falls in love with Fen. Hong had previously portrayed a gangster also named Tai in Bad Education (2022) produced by Giddens Ko.
Hu Jhih-ciang as young Tai, a high school baseball team captain
Kai Ko as Long Legs, Tai's vengeful right-hand man who disappoints with Tai's apparent softness
Emerson Tsai as Fishy, a high-ranking member in Tai's gang who falls in love with Guan
Ying Wei-min as Bryan, a high-ranking member in Tai's gang who respects and enjoys mimicking Long Legs
Also appearing in the film are Bruce Hung as Cheng Hsu-hsiang, a baseball player idolized by Fen; Kent Tsai as Guo, Fen's ex-boyfriend who cheated on her; Chung Hsin-ling as Fen's mother; Bai Bai as Guan, Fen's salon colleague; Kuo Tzu-chien, Miao Ke-li and Honduras as Boss Chuan, Auntie Gold, and Boss North, the highest-ranking bosses in Tai's triad; Hsia Teng-hung as Four-Eye, Boss Chuan's right-hand man; Duan Chun-hao as Boss Hsing, Tai's boss who was assassinated in the beginning of the film; and Duncan Chow as Boss Tung, a Dongguan-originated mafia boss acquainted with Tai. Singer Chern Hawyeu cameos as a smoothie shop customer.




Production






= Development

=
Miss Shampoo is loosely based on the fourth chapter "This is the Feeling I Want" of Giddens Ko's 2010 novel Precisely Out of Control. Producer Lu Wei-jun, who was then working for 21st Century Fox and was acquainted with Giddens Ko from the international distribution of You Are the Apple of My Eye (2011), expressed interest in collaborating further with Ko. Ko proposed adapting Precisely Out of Control into a feature film but deliberately excluded the fourth chapter from the initial outline, believing it could stand alone as its own movie. The project was ultimately scrapped due to the acquisition of 21st Century Fox. After joining Machi Xcelsior Studios, Lu selected and oversaw the production of another Ko's novel-adapted film Till We Meet Again (2021). Following their collaboration, Ko proposed reviving their earlier proposal to adapt Precisely Out of Control, this time focusing on the fourth chapter, which he described as "the most lovable chapter of the novel". Ko conceived the idea of adapting this novel while producing Bad Education (2022). He described the story as being about triads, emphasizing his desire to portray "the triad members as lovable through their experiences of falling in love". While adapting the novel into a screenplay, he shifted the time setting to the modern day, whereas the novel was set prior to the match fixing scandal involving the China Times Eagles and the Jungo Bears. In early 2022, the film received NTD$8 million funding from the Ministry of Culture's National Development Fund. During the scriptwriting phase, the crew sought to collaborate with a baseball team for the production but faced rejections from multiple teams due to concerns about the film's dialogue. Ultimately, the film partnered with the Rakuten Monkeys.
Pre-production began in July 2022, including casting and location scouting, with filming expected to commence in September 2022. Singer Jeffrey Huang was initially cast in the lead role as Tai, prompting the production company to increase the film's budget due to his involvement. Giddens Ko envisioned the character as middle-aged and bilingual, returning from America to reclaim his position as a gang boss, to suit Huang's traits. However, Huang dropped out after taking acting classes, citing scheduling conflicts and a greater interest in another one of Ko's projects, Kung Fu, which was stalled in development. Huang recommended Daniel Hong, a rapper from the band Nine One One, who only had cameo appearances in films previously. Ko had recognized Hong's acting potential after seeing him play a gangster in the film Bad Education. Vivian Sung, another frequent collaborator of Ko, volunteered to join the production before it commenced, and Ko agreed, writing the screenplay with a character based on her. Sung also served as a major investor in the film. To prepare for their roles, Hong took four months of acting classes, while Sung learned hairstyling for two months, including traditional hair washing and modern salon massage techniques. Kai Ko, another frequent collaborator of Giddens Ko, was cast in the early stages of the film as an original character not from the novel written specifically for him. Kai was initially hesitant about playing a sidekick, but Giddens provided him with a backstory that highlighted the character's significance and assured him of his interest in writing a spin-off film centered on the character. Ko's frequent collaborators Emerson Tsai, Bruce Hung, and Kent Tsai also returned to the project, with Ko noting their familiarity and chemistry as crucial to the story. Hung underwent three days of baseball training to prepare for his role. Hu Jhih-ciang secured his role before the 59th Golden Horse Awards through three rounds of auditions.

On 1 August 2022, Daniel Hong and Vivian Sung were confirmed as the lead cast, while other details about the film remained under wraps. On 24 August, Giddens Ko released photos of table-read and revealed the film's title as Miss Shampoo. In October, Kai Ko and Emerson Tsai were announced as part of the cast. The Korean company Barunson E&A acquired the international distribution rights for the film in the same month, marking its first non-Korean feature, while Edko Films and Clover Films handled sales in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. The film was presented at the Marché du Film in May 2023. The film was scheduled for a summer release in March 2023, and an official trailer was released in May. In July, the Rakuten Monkeys announced their team lineup for competition in Japan, which included Cheng Hsu-hsiang, Bruce Hung's character, and the announcement was later revealed to be part of the film's marketing campaign. On 10 August, Hung, Daniel Hong, and Vivian Sung participated in a ceremonial first pitch for the Rakuten Monkeys. The film's end credits included voice recordings of a conversation between Giddens Ko, Daniel Hong, and Vivian Sung discussing the choice of performer for the theme song.




= Filming

=
Principal photography began on 23 August 2022, lasting 40 days with an average of nine hours of filming each day. Patrick Chou, a frequent collaborator of Giddens Ko, returned to the project as cinematographer. The Mei-mun Hair Salon, a main set for the film, was designed and built in an empty shop located in Ximending, Taipei. Several local residents accidentally walked onto the production set during filming, mistaking the hair salon for an actual business. Daniel Hong and Vivian Sung were spotted filming at Jingmei Night Market, Taipei on 3 October. Filming in Taoyuan City included baseball scenes at the Rakuten Taoyuan Baseball Stadium, and bathhouse scenes in the Zhongli District. Location shooting also took place in New Taipei City, including at Shulin District and Zhonghe District. Filming ultimately concluded on 17 October, spanning approximately one and a half months.




= Music

=
The film's theme song "Just Do You" is composed and performed by the band Nine One One. The song faced online backlash during the MeToo movement, which coincided with the film release, prompting lead actor and composer Daniel Hong to publicly apologize. The film also featured Michael Shih's 1995 song "Good-Bye My Dear Almost Lover". Giddens Ko became aware of this song when Shih performed it in a live cover on Nasi Li's YouTube channel, leading him to reach out to Shih to rearrange it for piano for use in the film. Shih's song was also used as the background music of the film's trailer. "Red Scarf", the theme song from Ko's Till We Meet Again, and "Loyal Valiant Rakuten", the fight song of Rakuten Monkeys, were both included as easter eggs.




Release


Miss Shampoo had its world premiere as the opening film of the 25th Taipei Film Festival on 22 June 2023, followed by a theatrical release in Taiwan on 26 July. The film was also screened at the 22nd New York Asian Film Festival, the 27th Fantasia International Film Festival, and in the World Focus section of the 36th Tokyo International Film Festival. It became available for streaming on Netflix starting 28 December 2023.




Reception






= Box office

=
Miss Shampoo grossed over NTD$20 million in its first week of release, directly ascending to the top of Taiwan's weekly box office. It earned over NTD$40 million in its second week, and concluded its theatrical run with approximately NTD$70 million. Harper's Bazaar described the box office performance as "not very impressive"; Berton Hsu of The News Lens noted that while the Taipei box office results were satisfactory, the figures in central and southern Taiwan fell short, and the total revenue was also significantly lower than that of Giddens Ko's previous projects You Are the Apple of My Eye (2011), Mon Mon Mon Monsters (2017), and Till We Meet Again (2021).




= Critical response

=
James Marsh of South China Morning Post gave the film 3/5 stars, commenting that Miss Shampoo is a giddily self-satisfied romantic comedy that, while bursting with youthful energy and clever plotting, is ultimately undermined by a juvenile sense of humor, despite its charming leads and engaging premise. Tay Yek Keak of 8days gave the film 3.5/5 stars and described the film as a chaotic mix of romance, drama, and violence, noting that while the genres blend just about effectively, Giddens Ko's talent for coming-of-age stories and memorable characters ultimately elevated the film, despite a somewhat disappointing ending.
Estella Huang of Mirror Media criticized the film for closely resembling the story and character dynamics of the previously adapted Korean film Man in Love (2014), and noting that its emphasis on humor over emotional depth undermines the seriousness of the central romance, resulting in a narrative that feels more like a variety show than a cohesive story. Berton Hsu, in his review for The News Lens, emphasized the film's box office failure, noting that the chaotic blend of humor, dark themes, and romance elements, combined with a disjointed narrative filled with clichés, resulted in a lackluster adaptation.
V.N. Pryor of Cinapse focused on the writing and offered a positive review, praising the film as delightfully entertaining, expertly blending romantic comedy and crime elements, and highlighting Giddens Ko's improved ability to engage audiences with humor and endearing character dynamics. Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com also described the film as an infectious and humorously chaotic blend of gangster and romantic comedy, celebrating a fresh style in Giddens Ko's filmography.
Hong Kong film critic Sek Kei highlighted that the film features a tough gangster who falls for a quirky hairdresser, integrating heroic bloodshed elements typical of Hong Kong cinema alongside charming characters and witty details, but he had reservations on whether it would resonate with contemporary Hong Kong audiences given the evolving landscape of gangster films. Siu Yu echoed Sek's views in her review for am730, noting that the film's playfulness and character interactions reflect Giddens Ko's signature style, with creative decisions shaped by his sincerity and passion for the Hong Kong Young and Dangerous film series. Keith Ho, writing for HK01, also noted that the film pays homage to Hong Kong cinema, effectively blending action and gangster elements typical of Hong Kong films with romance and drama, all while making significant changes to its source material, resulting in an entertaining and emotionally engaging experience.




Awards and nominations






References






External links


Miss Shampoo at IMDb

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