Wild Horse from Shangri-La (命懸800公里)
An ethnic Tibetan “boy” — who looks more like a young man, possibly even Daniel Day Lewis in The Last of the Mohicans — refuses to let his sister lie down and die when she is afflicted with a life-threatening condition. Nicknamed “Wild Horse” for his running prowess, our hero learns of a marathon to be held in Kunming whose first prize is just enough to cover his sister’s medical expenses ... but he has to run there before he can compete. Any Chinese film with Tibetan content instantly raises red flags, but this one seems more aimed at kids than anyone else. Amusingly, and apparently without irony, the English-language trailer uses a snippet from Run Like Hell by Pink Floyd.
Bottle Shock
This is based on a true story of a clever wine taste test in 1976 that saw French judges unwittingly declare an American wine to be superior. Alan Rickman plays an elite British wine merchant in Paris who sets up the competition, Bill Pullman is the eccentric winemaker in Napa, Chris Pine is Pullman’s maturing son and co-worker and Dennis Farina is Rickman’s loyal customer and cheerleader. This film was in the cellar for more than a year before securing a release here, but its dividends should be no less bountiful.
Le Secret
Possibly taking advantage of today’s more permissive censorship regime, this obscure French drama has been dusted off after nine years for a release in Taiwan. An encyclopedia saleswoman does the dirty on her husband and child with (gasp) an American choreographer. He’s a recluse ... but he sure knows how to push her buttons. Possibly a feature-length warning against such behavior, the way Le Secret is packaged is more likely to trigger mid-life crises throughout the theater. Stars Tony Todd (Candyman) as the illicit lover; his presence makes this worth a look.
Phobia 2
The original Phobia was a Thai compendium of four horror tales; in English it was also called 4bia. But Thai audiences were not at all phobic about seeing it, hence this energetic sequel, which offers a bonus fifth tale of fear. Sinister religious practices and figures, zombie attacks, murderous vehicles and ghosts enter the frame in a selection that pleased audiences and critics, claiming the highest-grossing Thai horror movie crown.
The Triumphant Return of General Rouge
A sequel of sorts to The Glorious Team Batista, a Japanese hospital murder-mystery released here 18 months ago, Rouge places put-upon medicos in a more bureaucratic fix as the government investigators from the previous installment probe dodgy budgeting and claims of unethical practices involving a surgeon gruesomely tagged “General Rouge.” This has to be more entertaining than it sounds, especially as it stars Yuko Takeuchi (Ringu, Spring Snow) and the prolific Hiroshi Abe (Hero). Also known as The Triumphant General Rouge.
Twin Daggers
Shades of Kill Bill at the Baixue in Ximending this week as the latest DVD promo gets a run in this most inelegant of theaters. Aussie journeyman Rhett Giles stars as “Scholar,” a chappie who spends more time unraveling assassin intrigue and kicking butt than producing refereed publications. He joins a number of other would-be killers hired by a sultry lady (Coco Su) to off her identical twin (Coco Su again) before things start getting really complicated. This derivative Chinese production starts tomorrow.
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
April 21 to April 27 Hsieh Er’s (謝娥) political fortunes were rising fast after she got out of jail and joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in December 1945. Not only did she hold key positions in various committees, she was elected the only woman on the Taipei City Council and headed to Nanjing in 1946 as the sole Taiwanese female representative to the National Constituent Assembly. With the support of first lady Soong May-ling (宋美齡), she started the Taipei Women’s Association and Taiwan Provincial Women’s Association, where she
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
It is one of the more remarkable facts of Taiwan history that it was never occupied or claimed by any of the numerous kingdoms of southern China — Han or otherwise — that lay just across the water from it. None of their brilliant ministers ever discovered that Taiwan was a “core interest” of the state whose annexation was “inevitable.” As Paul Kua notes in an excellent monograph laying out how the Portuguese gave Taiwan the name “Formosa,” the first Europeans to express an interest in occupying Taiwan were the Spanish. Tonio Andrade in his seminal work, How Taiwan Became Chinese,
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