{ "id": "epmv4jjtjz", "slug": "cute-girl", "title": "Cute Girl (就是溜溜的她)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s", "label": "Comedies of the 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.comedy-dramas-of-the-1980s", "label": "Comedy-dramas of the 1980s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.comedy-dramas-of-the-1980s" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "China · 1946 to 2000: Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946", "label": "China · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Cute Girl (就是溜溜的她, Lovable You) is Hou Hsiao-hsien's 1980 Taiwanese directorial debut, a 90-minute romantic comedy starring Fong Fei-fei and Kenny Bee, a Taipei box-office hit with early long-take style.", "snippet": "Cute Girl (就是溜溜的她, Lovable You) is Hou Hsiao-hsien's 1980 Taiwanese directorial debut, a 90-minute romantic comedy starring Fong Fei-fei and Kenny Bee, a Taipei box-office hit with early long-take style.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-the-1980s.comedy-dramas-of-the-1980s", "markdown": "# Cute Girl (就是溜溜的她)\n\n**Cute Girl** (就是溜溜的她; also released as *Lovable You*) is a 1980 Taiwanese romantic comedy directed and written by Hou Hsiao-hsien, and it was his first film as a director. Produced by the Hong Kong-based Golden Century Films, it stars the singer Fong Fei-fei (凤飞飞) and Kenny Bee (钟镇涛) of the Wynners, with Chen Yu (陈友) in a supporting role, and it was a commercial success, earning more than NT$10 million at the Taipei box office.[1](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/programme/films/detail/1319) • [2](https://collections.nmth.gov.tw/CollectionContent.aspx?a=132&rno=2004.021.0138) • [3](https://funscreen.tfai.org.tw/node/2442)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | Taiwan, 1980; 90 minutes; color; Mandarin and Hokkien (Taiwanese) dialogue[1](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/programme/films/detail/1319) • [4](https://fanhall.com/if00054.html) |\n| Debut | Hou Hsiao-hsien's first film as director; he also wrote the screenplay[1](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/programme/films/detail/1319) • [4](https://fanhall.com/if00054.html) |\n| Key crew | Cinematography Chen Kun-hou, editing Liao Ching-song, music Tso Hung-yuan (左宏元)[4](https://fanhall.com/if00054.html) • [2](https://collections.nmth.gov.tw/CollectionContent.aspx?a=132&rno=2004.021.0138) |\n| Cast | Fong Fei-fei, Kenny Bee, Chen Yu; singer Chin Chyi (齐秦) made his first screen appearance[1](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/programme/films/detail/1319) |\n| Box office | Exceeded NT$10 million in Taipei[3](https://funscreen.tfai.org.tw/node/2442) |\n| Style marker | Average shot length of 11.3 seconds, far above the prevailing rhythm of Taiwanese commercial film at the time[5](https://www.shangbao.com.ph/pdf/2023/11-19/U205P5038T1D149247F103DT20231119231427.pdf) |\n| Later life | Re-released in a digital version on 9 March 2012[6](https://www.chinanews.com/tw/2012/03-09/3730350.shtml) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nThe heiress Pan Wen-chi (潘文琦, played by Fong Fei-fei) is the daughter of a wealthy Taipei businessman who wants to marry her off through arranged matchmaking. She escapes to her great-aunt's home in the countryside, where she meets Ku Ta-kang (顾大刚, Kenny Bee), a land surveyor sent from Taipei to work on a road project, and the two grow fond of each other.[1](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/programme/films/detail/1319) • [7](https://www.wowscreen.com.tw/movie.php?movie_id=12811)\n\nBack in Taipei, her father arranges a meeting with a prospective husband, Ma Chien (马谦, Chen Yu). Ku Ta-kang, who loves Wen-chi, deliberately shows up whenever Ma and Wen-chi meet, courting Ma politely so that Wen-chi is left out. Ma eventually tells Wen-chi that he too was pushed into the matchmaking by his parents and already has a girlfriend in France. Ku then formally courts Wen-chi and asks her father for her hand, and is refused; the next day the father arranges another matchmaking, with the son of the Lihwa enterprise, who turns out to be Ku himself.[7](https://www.wowscreen.com.tw/movie.php?movie_id=12811)\n\n## Production and context\n\nHou entered the film industry in 1973 as a script supervisor on Li Hsing's *Heart with a Thousand Knots* and worked his way up through screenwriting and assistant directing at the Central Motion Picture Corporation before directing *Cute Girl* in 1980.[8](https://www.businesstoday.com.tw/article/category/154769/post/201506110028/) He wrote the screenplay during eleven days spent secluded on Yangmingshan, tailoring it to Fong Fei-fei, whom he described as resolute, cheerful, and independent.[6](https://www.chinanews.com/tw/2012/03-09/3730350.shtml) Asked why he chose such a strange title, he answered plainly that he wanted the film to sell.[9](https://anntw.com/system/newspapers/print_copies/000/005/370/original/20231110.pdf?1699528023=)\n\nThe film belongs to a run of commercially successful urban romantic comedies made by Hou and [Chen Kun](https://www.edgepedia.org/chen-kun)-hou, who alternated as director while Hou wrote and Chen shot, following the hit formula of big stars, romance, and pop songs associated with Li Hsing. Their films in this mode include *Cute Girl*, *[Cheerful Wind](https://www.edgepedia.org/cheerful-wind)* (风儿踢踏踩, 1981), and *[The Green, Green Grass of Home](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-green-green-grass-of-home)* (在那河畔青草青, 1982), and they are credited with transforming the Taiwanese romance genre by moving the action out of villas, restaurants, and cafés onto real Taipei streets.[9](https://anntw.com/system/newspapers/print_copies/000/005/370/original/20231110.pdf?1699528023=) • [3](https://funscreen.tfai.org.tw/node/2442) • [10](https://www.ncafroc.org.tw/artsaward/winnerDetail%401242)\n\nFong Fei-fei, then Taiwan's leading female singer, known as the \"Queen of Hats,\" had previously appeared only in melodramatic roles; in her first collaboration with the new director she played a cheerful woman who kicks off her high heels and climbs trees, a screen image the Golden Horse festival program describes as the role that suited her best.[1](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/programme/films/detail/1319) The poster's yellow hat motif played on that nickname to draw her fans.[2](https://collections.nmth.gov.tw/CollectionContent.aspx?a=132&rno=2004.021.0138)\n\n## Style and significance\n\nAlthough *Cute Girl* is a star vehicle in the commercial mode of 1980 Taiwanese cinema, with zoom shots, wide compositions, and pop songs throughout, critics note that elements of Hou's later style are already present: long lenses and longer takes, careful composition, and a marked town-and-country divide.[1](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/programme/films/detail/1319) • [11](https://windowsonworlds.com/2015/09/03/cute-girl-aka-loveable-you-%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E6%BA%9C%E6%BA%9C%E7%9A%84%E5%A5%B9-hou-hsiao-hsien-1980/) Its average shot length of 11.3 seconds far exceeded the prevailing rhythm of the period's films, and the long take that became Hou's signature had its beginnings here; his next film, *Cheerful Wind*, averaged 12.7 seconds, with one field scene lasting two full minutes.[5](https://www.shangbao.com.ph/pdf/2023/11-19/U205P5038T1D149247F103DT20231119231427.pdf)\n\nThe film also mixes Mandarin with Hokkien (Taiwanese) dialogue for comic and vernacular effect, a practice Hou extended in *Cheerful Wind*, where mistranslations between accents become a running joke.[3](https://funscreen.tfai.org.tw/node/2442) Its countryside scenes, in which the city heroine plays with local children, roast sweet potatoes, and carves her name on the \"lover's tree,\" establish the urban-rural contrast that recurs in Hou's later work.[12](https://funscreen.tfai.org.tw/article/2476)\n\nHou himself described his first two films as commercial comedies, and the film is generally treated as the apprenticeship that preceded the social realism of *The Boys from Fengkuei* (1983) and the Taiwanese New Wave, in which Hou, Chen Kun-hou, and editor Liao Ching-song, the three collaborators first brought together on this film, all became central figures.[4](https://fanhall.com/if00054.html) • [13](https://filmuforia.com/3-early-films-hou-hsiao-hsien/) The film was restored and re-released digitally in Taiwan on 9 March 2012, shortly after Fong Fei-fei's death that January.[6](https://www.chinanews.com/tw/2012/03-09/3730350.shtml)\n\n## References\n\n1. [就是溜溜的她 Cute Girl, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival program note](https://www.goldenhorse.org.tw/film/programme/films/detail/1319)\n2. [《就是溜溜的她》電影海報, National Museum of Taiwan History collection](https://collections.nmth.gov.tw/CollectionContent.aspx?a=132&rno=2004.021.0138)\n3. [國片喜劇鬧過年：侯孝賢《就是溜溜的她》與《風兒踢踏踩》, Funscreen Weekly](https://funscreen.tfai.org.tw/node/2442)\n4. [就是溜溜的她, fanhall.com film database](https://fanhall.com/if00054.html)\n5. [台灣新電影四十年 retrospective coverage, Shangbao (Philippines) supplement](https://www.shangbao.com.ph/pdf/2023/11-19/U205P5038T1D149247F103DT20231119231427.pdf)\n6. [侯孝贤三八妇女节谈女性的力量, China News Service / Xinhua](https://www.chinanews.com/tw/2012/03-09/3730350.shtml)\n7. [就是溜溜的她 Lovable You, WOW!SCREEN film magazine](https://www.wowscreen.com.tw/movie.php?movie_id=12811)\n8. [侯孝賢, Business Today (今周刊)](https://www.businesstoday.com.tw/article/category/154769/post/201506110028/)\n9. [陳坤厚 interview, Ann News print edition (10 November 2023)](https://anntw.com/system/newspapers/print_copies/000/005/370/original/20231110.pdf?1699528023=)\n10. [國家文藝獎 winner profile: Hou Hsiao-hsien, National Culture and Arts Foundation](https://www.ncafroc.org.tw/artsaward/winnerDetail%401242)\n11. [Cute Girl (AKA Loveable You), Windows on Worlds, Hayley Scanlon](https://windowsonworlds.com/2015/09/03/cute-girl-aka-loveable-you-%E5%B0%B1%E6%98%AF%E6%BA%9C%E6%BA%9C%E7%9A%84%E5%A5%B9-hou-hsiao-hsien-1980/)\n12. [《就是溜溜的她》與《風兒踢踏踩》的都市與鄉村空間呈現, Funscreen Weekly no. 285](https://funscreen.tfai.org.tw/article/2476)\n13. [Hou Hsiao-Hsien: Three Early Films, Filmuforia / MUBI, Meredith Taylor](https://filmuforia.com/3-early-films-hou-hsiao-hsien/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1980s › Comedy-dramas of the 1980s*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/cute-girl", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/cute-girl.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Cute Girl (就是溜溜的她)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/cute-girl. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Cute Girl (就是溜溜的她)](https://www.edgepedia.org/cute-girl)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/cute-girl](https://www.edgepedia.org/cute-girl). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Cute Girl (就是溜溜的她)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/cute-girl. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Cute Girl is Hou Hsiao-hsien's 1980 Taiwanese directorial debut, a 90-minute romantic comedy starring Fong Fei-fei and Kenny Bee, a Taipei box-office hit with early long-take style." }