{ "id": "epe6f4c1pv", "slug": "for-fun", "title": "For Fun", "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-1990-to-1994", "label": "Comedies of 1990 to 1994", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1990-to-1994" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1990-to-1994.slapstick-black-and-family-comedies.alpha-symbols-to-j", "label": "Titles symbols to J", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1990-to-1994.slapstick-black-and-family-comedies.alpha-symbols-to-j" } ], "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": "For Fun (找乐, also Looking for Fun) is a 1992/1993 Chinese comedy directed by Ning Ying, produced by Beijing Film Studio, about retired Beijing men forming an amateur Peking opera troupe; FIPRESCI Prize at Berlin, screened IFFR 1994.", "snippet": "For Fun (找乐, also Looking for Fun) is a 1992/1993 Chinese comedy directed by Ning Ying, produced by Beijing Film Studio, about retired Beijing men forming an amateur Peking opera troupe; FIPRESCI Prize at Berlin, screened IFFR 1994.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1990-to-1994.slapstick-black-and-family-comedies.alpha-symbols-to-j", "markdown": "# For Fun\n\n**For Fun** (找乐; traditional Chinese 找樂, also released as **Looking for Fun**) is a 1992/1993 Chinese comedy directed by Ning Ying, about a group of retired Beijing men who form an amateur [Peking opera](https://www.edgepedia.org/peking-opera) troupe in search of belonging and purpose.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) • [2](https://www.allmovie.com/movie/for-fun-am102073) It was produced by Beijing Film Studio with China and Hong Kong listed as countries of production, runs 97 minutes, is in Mandarin, and screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 1994.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) • [3](https://en.hkcinema.ru/film/12801) The film won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin Film Festival and was judged the best début at festivals in Tokyo and [San Sebastián](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-sebastian).[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Title | 找乐 (traditional 找樂), English titles For Fun and Looking for Fun[3](https://en.hkcinema.ru/film/12801) |\n| Year | 1992 (AllMovie) or 1993 (Rotterdam festival archive); released September 1, 1993[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) • [2](https://www.allmovie.com/movie/for-fun-am102073) |\n| Director and writers | Directed by Ning Ying; written by Ning Ying and her sister Ning Dai, based on a novella by Zheng Jiangong[2](https://www.allmovie.com/movie/for-fun-am102073) |\n| Production | Beijing Film Studio; China and Hong Kong; Mandarin; 97 minutes[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) • [3](https://en.hkcinema.ru/film/12801) |\n| Lead | Huang Zongluo, aged 66 at release, as Old Han (Lao Han-Tou)[3](https://en.hkcinema.ru/film/12801) • [4](https://bampfa.org/event/fun) |\n| Awards | FIPRESCI Prize at Berlin; best début at Tokyo and San Sebastián[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) |\n| Home video | Facets Video DVD (2009), Mandarin with English subtitles, 98 minutes[5](https://ivpl.discovery.sparkpa.org/Record/10923638) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot and setting\n\nThe protagonist is Old Han, who spent his working life at a local opera company, the [Rotterdam](https://www.edgepedia.org/rotterdam) archive describing him as its caretaker and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive catalog as a doorman at the Peking Opera Theater.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) • [4](https://bampfa.org/event/fun) On reaching retirement age he is bored and struggles to adjust, until a chance encounter with a group of old men singing Peking opera in a park gives him a project.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) • [4](https://bampfa.org/event/fun)\n\nOld Han organizes the singers into an amateur opera troupe and enters it in a local talent contest. The troupe loses the contest, and the defeat sets off conflicts among the members.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) • [4](https://bampfa.org/event/fun) AllMovie summarizes the theme as retirees in Beijing trying to find some sense of belonging and purpose by organizing a Peking opera troupe.[2](https://www.allmovie.com/movie/for-fun-am102073)\n\n## Cast and production\n\nThe film is acted by a mostly nonprofessional cast; the Rotterdam festival notes that only three of the actors were professionals and that both the director and the actors were praised even though working with amateurs was not always easy.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) The lead, Huang Zongluo, was 66 years old and played Lao Han-Tou; the cast also included Huang Wenjie and Han Shanxu, aged 55, as Dong Tou, and He Ming.[3](https://en.hkcinema.ru/film/12801) • [5](https://ivpl.discovery.sparkpa.org/Record/10923638)\n\nThe screenplay was written by Ning Ying and her sister Ning Dai, based on a novella by Zheng Jiangong.[2](https://www.allmovie.com/movie/for-fun-am102073) Ning Ying herself described the filming as harder than the title suggests: \"The film should really have been called 'For Suffering'. The arguments, the tears that went on... you have no idea how real those tantrums and dramas were in For Fun.\"[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2)\n\n## Release, festivals and reception\n\nThe film reached international audiences on the 1994 festival circuit, screening at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in a 97-minute print.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) At the Berlin Film Festival it won the FIPRESCI Prize, the international critics' award, and it was deemed the best début at film festivals in Tokyo and San Sebastián.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) It was sold internationally by Fortissimo Films.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2)\n\nThe critic Tony Rayns, writing for the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, called the film beautifully observed and splendidly acted, and said it \"radiates a kind of comic warmth not seen in the cinema since the Prague Spring heyday of Milos Forman and Ivan Passer\".[4](https://bampfa.org/event/fun) The Rotterdam program likewise credited it with a realistic style, an unmistakable sense of humor, and an eye for detail.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2)\n\n## The title and its cultural meaning\n\nThe Chinese title 找乐 (找樂 in traditional characters) is preserved in the alternate English title Looking for Fun.[3](https://en.hkcinema.ru/film/12801) The title points to the film's subject: retirees in Beijing trying to find some sense of belonging and purpose by organizing a Peking opera troupe.[2](https://www.allmovie.com/movie/for-fun-am102073)\n\n## Records and availability\n\nThe film is documented in the Rotterdam festival archive (1994 edition), the BAMPFA film catalog, AllMovie, and specialist Chinese-cinema databases.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) • [4](https://bampfa.org/event/fun) • [2](https://www.allmovie.com/movie/for-fun-am102073) • [3](https://en.hkcinema.ru/film/12801) It was released on DVD in the United States by Facets Video in 2009, in Mandarin with English subtitles, listed at 98 minutes and crediting the source work to Jiangong Chen.[5](https://ivpl.discovery.sparkpa.org/Record/10923638)\n\n## Points where records disagree\n\nCatalogs differ on several details. The Rotterdam archive dates the film 1993, while AllMovie dates it 1992 with a September 1, 1993 release date.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) • [2](https://www.allmovie.com/movie/for-fun-am102073) Old Han's former job is given as caretaker of the local opera company by Rotterdam and as doorman at the Peking Opera Theater by BAMPFA.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) • [4](https://bampfa.org/event/fun) The runtime is 97 minutes in festival and database records but 98 minutes on the Facets DVD.[1](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2) • [5](https://ivpl.discovery.sparkpa.org/Record/10923638)\n\n## References\n\n1. [For Fun — IFFR 1994 festival archive, International Film Festival Rotterdam](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/1994/films/for-fun-2)\n2. [For Fun (1993) — AllMovie](https://www.allmovie.com/movie/for-fun-am102073)\n3. [For Fun (找乐, 1993) — Hong Kong, China and Taiwan cinema database](https://en.hkcinema.ru/film/12801)\n4. [For Fun — BAMPFA, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive](https://bampfa.org/event/fun)\n5. [For Fun (DVD) — Indian Valley Public Library catalog, Facets Video](https://ivpl.discovery.sparkpa.org/Record/10923638)\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 1990 to 1994 › Titles symbols to J*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: 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/for-fun", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/for-fun.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": "\"For Fun\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/for-fun. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[For Fun](https://www.edgepedia.org/for-fun)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/for-fun](https://www.edgepedia.org/for-fun). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"For Fun\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/for-fun. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "For Fun is a 1992/1993 Chinese comedy directed by Ning Ying, produced by Beijing Film Studio, about retired Beijing men forming an amateur Peking opera troupe; FIPRESCI Prize at Berlin, screened IFFR 1994." }