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)
Zombie movies have always been an excellent outlet for social comment. George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978) famously used the shambling masses to interrogate consumerism. Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later (2002) traded on public fears over a viral outbreak – a … Continue reading REVIEW: Get the Hell Out (2020)
Two young men share a forbidden romance in Your Name Engraved Herein, the latest in a string of queer films emerging from the Chinese-speaking world. While LGBTIQ cinema has been evident in the region for many years, including a range of … Continue reading REVIEW: Your Name Engraved Herein (2020)
Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-Liang is, I think, one of the world’s most interesting filmmakers. It is not simply that he produces interesting and deepful artful narrative features including Rebels of a Neon God and Goodbye, Dragon Inn. He also makes a broad range … Continue reading REVIEW: Walker (2012)
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