Friday evening. Time to celebrate the end of a rather long week of work. I picked a Taiwanese romance comedy. Cynthia wondered why the randomness of my choice. Because we seldom watch Chinese movies. At the end of the movie, Cynthia was pleasantly surprised. And I was pleasantly surprised by her not hating it.
I did not pick “Au Revoir Taipei” by random. It says: winner of the Best Asian Film at the Berlin International Film Festival 2010. My only concern was that this movie would bias more to art than entertainment. OK. Some parts are pretty slow. Mostly filmed at night, the lovesick character Kai wanting to leave Taipei in order to meet his girlfriend in Paris. And here comes the gangsters, the cops, his friends, and Kai meeting Susie who works in a bookstore he frequents. For most parts, there is a certain honesty in the overall performance that reveals the raw essence of comic without pretense. There are enough character development opportunities that however brief some are, it is hard not to feel for them. As for the story development, “Au Revoir Taipei” reads like a chapter from a short story (the direct transaction of the Chinese title is “One Page of Taipei”) that leaves us wanting more. “Do you think there will be a sequel?” asked Cynthia when the credits rolled. That would be good, I think, to see closure to many of the seemingly unresolved plots.
The main actress Amber Kuo is also a Taiwanese singer (if you have not already known). I have downloaded her three albums from Nokia Music Store. Sounds decent so far. Below is the movie trailer.