Bonjour Paris festival
The Changchun theater in Taipei is hosting this French film festival until New Year’s Eve. The theme is “When love meets literature,” which sounds like 90 percent of the French film industry’s output, but why carp? Toplining is biopic Sagan starring Sylvie Testud (La Vie en Rose, Vengeance) as the turbulent French writer; the film is also opening the French-themed Taipei book festival early next year. The rest is a mixture of titles that (unfortunately) have already had theatrical releases here, including Clara and I, Eric Rohmer’s Le Rayon Vert, The Ring Finger, Little Lili from 2003 and Louis Malle’s Damage, among others.
Park Benches
If you’ve seen all these French titles already, there’s another Gallic offering unconnected to the Changchun festival. It’s got as many celebrity actors as the festival’s offerings put together, but that didn’t stop some critics from wondering what all the fuss is about. A well-to-do neighborhood is the setting for a series of tales of quirky and unsettled characters that start then finish all too quickly. Jacques Tati it ain’t — though there is some comedy.
Bombay Summer
An Indian couple living comfortably in Bombay run into an artist/drug dealer who changes their lives — and his own — and not necessarily for the better. Winner of the Best Film, Best Director (Joseph Mathew-Varghese) and Best Actress (Tannishtha Chatterjee) gongs at last month’s MIAAC Film Festival, a New York event for Indian-themed films, it’s something of a miracle that this non-musical is getting a Taiwan release, so those not enchanted at the thought of donning 3D glasses for nearly three hours watching Avatar might consider this adult-friendly trip instead.
Give Me Your Hand
Weird release of the week makes Avatar look like formula. Eurotwin brothers make their way across Europe to attend a family funeral, along the way pouting a lot, finding lust among the locals and getting into wrestling matches over long-dormant rivalries. Pretty as a picture, but narrative meandering and copulation time-outs will remind the viewer why it’s being screened at the Baixue grindhouse in Ximending. Original title: Donne-Moi la Main.
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 national security speech marked a turning point. He signaled that the government was finally getting serious about a whole-of-society approach to defending the nation. The presidential office summarized his speech succinctly: “President Lai introduced 17 major strategies to respond to five major national security and united front threats Taiwan now faces: China’s threat to national sovereignty, its threats from infiltration and espionage activities targeting Taiwan’s military, its threats aimed at obscuring the national identity of the people of Taiwan, its threats from united front infiltration into Taiwanese society through cross-strait exchanges, and its threats from
Despite the intense sunshine, we were hardly breaking a sweat as we cruised along the flat, dedicated bike lane, well protected from the heat by a canopy of trees. The electric assist on the bikes likely made a difference, too. Far removed from the bustle and noise of the Taichung traffic, we admired the serene rural scenery, making our way over rivers, alongside rice paddies and through pear orchards. Our route for the day covered two bike paths that connect in Fengyuan District (豐原) and are best done together. The Hou-Feng Bike Path (后豐鐵馬道) runs southward from Houli District (后里) while the
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
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