Comedian Shangguan Didi (Dee Hsu) makes a middling living out of appearances on stunt and gag-based comedy television shows, while being estranged from her much more successful actress sister Lingling (Lin Chi-ling). Didi’s first big chance at success comes when … Continue reading REVIEW: Didi’s Dream (2017)
Tsai Ming-liang remains one of global cinema’s great oddities. With each subsequent release his works seem more esoteric, more difficult to categorise, and increasingly closer to being impossible to explain without sounding like a posing eccentric. His debut feature, Rebels of … Continue reading REVIEW: Days (2020)
Taiwan is a country whose local cinema consistently punches above its weight, and the latest gem to emerge from the island is a truly outstanding piece of folk horror. Directed by Kevin Ko, Incantation is not just a commercial success but a … Continue reading REVIEW: Incantation (2022)
A lively but small-scale crime caper gets mixed with light romantic comedy in this charming Taiwanese feature; the directorial debut for Arvin Chen (Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow). Its wry sense of humour should please a fairly broad audience, … Continue reading REVIEW: Au Revoir Taipei (2010)
A boy named Sen (Wu Zhi-Xuan) struggles to cope with the recent death of his older brother. While his mother works each night at a local convenience store, Sen rides his bike around their suburb. He does homework in a … Continue reading REVIEW: Sen Sen (2017)
Some films simply look so odd that you have to track them down and check them out. Zhang Ying’s The Fantasy of Deer Warrior (1961) is a case in point: it is a Taiwanese children’s film, produced in black and white, and … Continue reading REVIEW: The Fantasy of Deer Warrior (1961)
In a moment of rage, a man destroys his entire life. Now destitute with three children to care for, he struggles to make ends meet in this Taiwanese melodrama from director Hsin Chi. And what a melodrama it is. There … Continue reading REVIEW: The Rice Dumpling Vendors (1969)
William Shakespeare has inspired filmmakers since the very origins of the form. Starting with Dixon and Dando’s King John in 1899, there have been in excess of 400 films produced that are either adapted from or inspired by Shakespeare’s work. While the … Continue reading REVIEW: As We Like It (2021)
A chance meeting leads to a day of romance in this odd, modest little drama from Taiwan. Broadly akin to an Asian remake of Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise (1995), director Lin Yu-hsien adds an unusual level of metatextuality to its simple … Continue reading REVIEW: Su Mi Ma Sen, Love (2009)
Gatao, a series of Taiwanese crime dramas, are shaping up to be one of the world’s more promising ongoing screen franchises. Gatao: The Last Stray (2021) is the third film to date and easily the strongest of the set. Gatao is … Continue reading REVIEW: Gatao: The Last Stray (2021)
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