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The standout of this festival is probably Orz Boyz (Jiong nan hai, Yang Ya-che, 2008). The film tells the story of two boys dubbed Liars No. 1 and No. 2, who get up to all sorts of mischief as they imagine a world larger than their own. What starts out as a shaggy tale of a couple of young rascals grows to something more as the film starts to explore the roots of their mischief. Running parallel to all the fantastic images of the boy’s adventures is a down-to-earth story of kids just trying to deal with the hand that their lives dealt them. Holding this film together are great performances from the two young leads, Li Kuan-I and Pan Chin-yu, who seem to have been born to be in front of the camera.
You might want to check out Yang Yang (Cheng Yu-Chieh, 2009) if only to be introduced to the lovely Sandrine Pinna, who is emerging as one of the most promising young actresses in the world. Here she plays the titular character, a French-Taiwanese girl who grew up never knowing her father, thrust into the entertainment industry for the novelty of her ethnicity, despite having no real connection to the European side of her heritage. Director Cheng seems to be making a career of depicting the strangeness of the entertainment industry, and his gentle, unobtrusive camera presents the perfect vantage point to all the quiet drama in his character’s lives. The script doesn’t quite deliver on its promise, but Pinna continues to be someone to watch.
I’ve already spoken at length about Cape No. 7 (Hái-kak chhit-ho, Wei Te-Shang, 2008) back when it screened earlier this year at the Chinese Spring Film Festival. In this lineup, it remains one of the warmest crowd pleasers available to audiences, mixing themes of music, romance and cultural identity with a story that brings attention to an important issue in Taiwan. Again, the film as a whole is a little long, but its charm is undeniable.
The same focus on small town life can be found in two other films in the festival. Our Island, Our Dreams (Tong Chan-yu, 2009) uses the beautiful island of Kinmen as a backdrop for a story of young love. Three lifelong best friends have their relationship tested, as the two young men in the group develop feelings for their blossoming female best friend. Meanwhile, a soldier with romantic intentions comes in to complicate things further. Despite its picturesque setting, the film isn’t particularly cinematic, but its easy (albeit melodramatic) tale of romance might appeal to fans of Asian serials.
The gorgeous East coast of Taiwan serves as the star of Fishing Luck (Deng dai fei yu, Tseng Wen-Chen, 2005), which tells the story of a young woman who falls in love with a Taiwanese aborigine. The film hints at bigger issues surrounding Taiwan’s aboriginal population, but it mostly sticks to happier things, playing things out as a fairly entertaining romantic comedy. Likable performances makes it all perfectly palatable.
