Johnnie To's (杜琪峰) films are always highly anticipated and well received. Gangster movies like The Mission (鎗火), PTU and Election (黑社會) earned him the status of a world-class director. In light of that, his latest work, Linger (蝴蝶飛), may catch his fans by surprise as the director swerves into romantic territory. Taiwanese heartthrob Vic Chou (周渝民) of boy band F4 fame and China's Li Bingbing (李冰冰) turn in competent performances in this tale of love, loss, regret and rebirth.
The film begins with Dong (Vic Chou) dying in a car accident during a quarrel with his college sweetheart, Yan (Li Bingbing). The tragedy leaves Yan a psychological wreck who is barely able to cope, even with the help of Prozac.
Three years pass and when Yan's psychologist suggests that she comes off the medication, Dong's ghost appears, full of anger and regret over his death. At first confused and laden with guilt, Yan begins to pick up the bits and pieces of Dong's past: The life of a child growing up in a dysfunctional single-parent family.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF GROUP POWER ENTERTAINMENT
It hardly need be said that the two reconcile and love rekindles, but there is something other than love for Yan that keeps Dong's spirit lingering in the mortal world.
Keeping his promise to celebrated playwright Ivy Ho (岸西), of Comrades, Almost a Love Story (甜蜜蜜) and Divergence (三岔口) fame, To, who is known for shooting films without complete scripts, sticks to Ho's original composition, including feminine perspectives. The end result is a departure from To's sharp and pungent vocabulary to a style that is mild and sensitive.
The film is well cast. Taiwan's Chou succeeds in his silver screen debut, coming off as a lovable Prince Charming with a troubled past. Seasoned Chinese actor Yong presents a few good tear-jerking moments in the film as a father who has deep regrets. Leading lady Li also lives up to expectations by bringing out the dramatic and psychological intensity required for her role.
Though Linger is a romance flick through and through, audiences should expect more than the usual slobbery story about a lost lover. In To's romance, love goes hand-in-hand with unresolved anger, guilt and forgiveness and is open to the oscillations of genuine human emotions. The father-and-son relationship, though a side story, adds dramatic tension to the film in a way that touches the heart.
A love story told through seamless transitions and editing that threads through the present and past, underworld and mortal realm, Linger is as unexpected as it is charming.
In Taiwan’s politics the party chair is an extremely influential position. Typically this person is the presumed presidential candidate or serving president. In the last presidential election, two of the three candidates were also leaders of their party. Only one party chair race had been planned for this year, but with the Jan. 1 resignation by the currently indicted Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) two parties are now in play. If a challenger to acting Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) appears we will examine that race in more depth. Currently their election is set for Feb. 15. EXTREMELY
Last week saw the appearance of another odious screed full of lies from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian (肖千), in the Financial Review, a major Australian paper. Xiao’s piece was presented without challenge or caveat. His “Seven truths on why Taiwan always will be China’s” presented a “greatest hits” of the litany of PRC falsehoods. This includes: Taiwan’s indigenous peoples were descended from the people of China 30,000 years ago; a “Chinese” imperial government administrated Taiwan in the 14th century; Koxinga, also known as Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功), “recovered” Taiwan for China; the Qing owned
Jan. 20 to Jan. 26 Taipei was in a jubilant, patriotic mood on the morning of Jan. 25, 1954. Flags hung outside shops and residences, people chanted anti-communist slogans and rousing music blared from loudspeakers. The occasion was the arrival of about 14,000 Chinese prisoners from the Korean War, who had elected to head to Taiwan instead of being repatriated to China. The majority landed in Keelung over three days and were paraded through the capital to great fanfare. Air Force planes dropped colorful flyers, one of which read, “You’re back, you’re finally back. You finally overcame the evil communist bandits and
They increasingly own everything from access to space to how we get news on Earth and now outgoing President Joe Biden warns America’s new breed of Donald Trump-allied oligarchs could gobble up US democracy itself. Biden used his farewell speech to the nation to deliver a shockingly dark message: that a nation which has always revered its entrepreneurs may now be at their mercy. “An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms,” Biden said. He named no names, but his targets were clear: men like Elon Musk
RSS