Jiang Feng-Chyi Movies
At the 1998 Cannes Film Festival, this Taiwanese-French drama won a FIPRESCI Award, given by international critics. Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang previously won top awards for his 1994 Vive l'amour (at Venice) and 1996 The River (at Berlin). High strangeness is evident in the tale, originally initiated as part of the French TV series of one-hour end-of-millennium dramas. As an epidemic spreads through Taipei, virus victims display odd symptoms. A man (Lee Kang-sheng) who runs a food store with few customers lives in a shabby building in a quarantined section, and a woman (Yang Kuei-mei) in the same building has a withdrawn existence. A plumber, checking a leak, makes a hole in the man's floor and leaves; the man then observes his neighbors through the hole. The film features four musical fantasy sequences that recall Hong Kong musical films of the '50s. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yang Kuei-Mei, Lee Kang-Sheng, (more)
- 1997
Director Ann Hui offers a self-portrait in this Taiwanese documentary, part of the "Personal Memoir of Hong Kong" series. Varying the visuals from 40-year-old black-and-white photos and interviews, to a dinner discussion with friends, Hui also talks directly into the camera. While exploring her own memories, Hui chronicles changes in Hong Kong over the past four decades. Shown at 1997 film festivals (London, Venice, Toronto, Vancouver). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ann Hui, Margaret Ng, (more)
- 1996
The loves and travails of a Taipei schoolteacher provide the basis of this arty Taiwanese melodrama who gets romantically entangled with a ruthless local politician following the death of her brother. Though Jane Yu knows that Xian Guo-chien is married and obsessed with furthering himself in politics, she takes comfort from their trysts, but things go awry after she learns that he has staged an assassination attempt on himself to bolster his standing in the polls. This opens her eyes to her lover's true character. At the same time, she also contends with a suicidal student, a dubious business opportunity and the good-looking lounge singer who wants her love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
A group of aimless Taipei residents deal with their personal problems in this Taiwanese drama that does feature brief flashes of black humor. Much of the story centers upon lonely Mrs. Chen who has trouble coping with her philandering husband, and nearly senile mother-in-law. Her daughter frequently sulks and has a desperate crush on one of her teachers. Mrs. Chen's only friend is her co-worker Liu, who has fallen for a new office boy, Chou. Mrs. Chen also finds him attractive. Unfortunately for either woman, Chou is gay and plagued with problems of his own. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
Two young women find themselves unable to deal with the realities of their contemporary existence and so retreat into the colorful world of a classical Chinese opera from the Ming Dynasty, The Peony Pavilion to find solace in this Taiwanese drama. The film chronicles each woman's story separately. The first story centers on a teen-age virgin in her senior year of high school. Du is a hard worker who is inexorably being forced into the arms of a classmate. Meanwhile her sexuality begins to blossom. Unfortunately, she is not allowed to express this and so begins to fantasize that she is the heroine in the popular opera. In the story the girl is the sheltered daughter of an official who frequently wanders a beautiful garden dreaming of making love to a handsome scholar. Soon Du is totally obsessed with the heroine. She convinces herself that if she kills herself she will finally be able to meet the scholar in the afterlife and so hurls herself from a rooftop. In the second tale, pop singer Liu attempts to cope with her disintegrating career. She also deals with her producer-lover who is quickly drawing away from her. Liu also begins to daydream about the opera. She relates to the scholar and like the girl before her, soon finds herself obsessively becoming the character. Nothing and no one can stop her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This lively Taiwanese children's comedy follows the exploits of two kidnapped children who must study for the crucial Joint Entrance Exam while their captor makes repeated bungled attempts to collect their ransom. Much of the story centers on lazy middle-school student Zhi-Qiang who is more interested in video games and his cute schoolmate than passing the test that will determine his future. As the film begins, Zhi-Qiang is being beaten by his teacher for being lazy. His life changes when a local boy is abducted and he runs across the captor and ends up a captive himself. The man behind the plot is a cruel ex-cop, but he is killed during a motorcycle accident and the children are left in the hands of his dim-bulbed but amiable assistant, Ah-Ching. He takes the kids to a small coastal village to stay with his clan of eccentric relatives while he heads back to Taipei to collect the ransoms. On the television, newscasters are more upset by the fact that Zhi-Qiang may miss his chance to take the JEE than by the fact that he has been kidnapped. Fortunately, Ah-Ching keeps bringing the boy school books to study after each failed attempt to get the ransoms. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This Taiwanese comedy is set in Lower Manhattan and chronicles the travails of two Taiwanese illegal aliens as they try to get a green card. The woman, Siao-yu, works as a sweatshop seamstress while her lover, Jiang Wei, is a student who works in a fish market. They meet an Italian-American, Mario, who has racked up a large gambling debt. They agree to give him the $10,000 he needs if he will only marry Siao-yu and get her a green card. Mario is anything but an ideal husband as he is slovenly, middle-aged, and dull; his idea of fun is to play cards and occasionally sleep with his wife, from whom he is separated. Following the "wedding" Siao-yu moves into his spare bedroom, and gradually the two become friends. As they become closer, their lovers begin to feel jealous, and eventually Siao-yu must choose whether to be with Jiang or stay with Mario. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This second film by prominent Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang is a brilliant portrayal of isolation and urban disillusionment in modern Taipei. The movie focuses on three lonely souls: Hsiao-kang, a gay salesman of crematorium niches who wanders the city on his scooter; Ah-jung, a handsome street hawker of counterfeit designer goods; and May Lin, a struggling real estate agent. Hsiao-kang sneaks into a vacant apartment with a stolen key, takes a bath, and tries to slash his wrists. Meanwhile, May picks up Ah-jung and enters the same flat for a late-night tryst. As the film progresses, each character goes through the tedium of their lives: May waits in empty houses for prospective clients; Ah-jung hawks his wares while avoiding the police, and Hsiao-kang places fliers in anonymous mailboxes. All three use the unoccupied apartment at various times for their own needs without realizing the presence of the others, until Hsiao-kang and Ah-jung run into each other. After they both flee the place when May arrives, they develop an odd sort of friendship. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Yang Kuei-Mei, Lee Kang-Sheng, (more)
Director Ang Lee's follow-up to his surprise box-office hit The Wedding Banquet is another look at ethnic and sexual conflicts in a Chinese family, with meals as a centerpiece of the film. Master chef Chu (Sihung Lung) is a long-time widower who lovingly cooks large Sunday dinners for his three daughters, who view the meals as too traditional. Secretly, however, successful airline executive Jia-Chien (Chien-Lien Wu) loves traditional cooking and would like to be a chef like her father, if women were permitted to do so. Her older sister Jia-Jen (Kuei-Mei Yang) is unmarried and cynical about men, but she becomes attracted to a volleyball coach and eventually pursues him vigorously. The youngest daughter, Jia-Ning (Yu-Wen Wang), is a college student who becomes pregnant from her frequent sexual escapades. As the film progresses, the personal relationships between the daughters and their significant others change unexpectedly. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sihung Lung, Yang Kuei-Mei, (more)
A gay New Yorker stages a marriage of convenience with a young woman to satisfy his traditional Taiwanese family, but the wedding becomes a major inconvenience when his parents fly in for the ceremony. Director Ang Lee came to international prominence with this warm-hearted comedy, which centers on the farcical confusion that emerges from this deception. Gao Wai Tung (Winston Chao) has never shared the truth about his sexuality with his family, and hopes to disguise his long-term relationship with his lover Simon by marrying Wei-Wei, a young artist who's only it for the green card. But Wai Tung's parents refuse to let him off the hook easily, showing up to plan a massive wedding banquet. Indeed, much of the film's comedy springs from the contrast between the sheer lavishness of the parents' plans and the sham nature of the wedding. Naturally, the titular party spins out of control, leading to a series of events that threatens all of Wai Tung's relationships. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Winston Chao, May Chin, (more)
- 1992
- NR
Acclaimed Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee made his directorial debut with this drama, leavened with gentle comedy, about a household turned upside down by a man who could not be much more out of place. Mr. Chu (Sihung Lung) is an elderly gentleman who has devoted much of his life to studying and teaching tai chi; growing old and wanting to be closer to his family, he decides to move in with his son. However, Mr. Chu has lived all his life in Beijing, and his son Alex (Bo Z. Wang) lives in New York City. Chu arrives at Alex's doorstep not knowing a single word of English, and he soon finds himself out of sorts in the home of his very Americanized son. Alex's wife Martha (Deb Snyder) is a writer who is dealing with the stress of publishing her first novel, in addition to watching over her six-year-old son. Mr. Chu is very much at odds with American customs and technology, and he even gets lost when he tries to take a walk; Martha soon feels as if she's watching over two children rather than one, while Mr. Chu resents his loss of dignity and independence. Eventually, he tries to strike out on his own and get a job, but the harder he tries to feel at home in New York, the more alien he seems. Ang Lee and Sihung Lung would team up again on Lee's next two films, The Wedding Banquet and Eat Drink Man Woman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sihung Lung
