Monga

You’ve seen Monga before - but not exactly like this and that makes all the difference. Director Doze Niu’s youth gang film possesses solid situations and characters, and does a fine job of walking the thin line between glamorizing and criticizing the gang lifestyle. The story is familiar, but that’s because every culture has a film in this genre. Monga is Taiwan’s gangster film for this generation, tapping into nostalgia and nationalism while also representing the country’s reinvigorated commercial film industry. It does a fine job of all those things.
Mark Chao stars as Mosquito, a lonely teen new to Taiwan’s Monga (Wanhua) district circa 1986. Immediately he’s bullied by the local toughs, but is saved by the intervention of a four-member gang led by mullet-sporting Dragon Lee (Rhydian Vaughan) and strong, stalwart Monk (Ethan Ruan), who strikes up a strong friendship with Mosquito. Now totaling five members, the group calls themselves the Prince Gang, and revel in their newfound camaraderie and the shared joy of running and roughhousing throughout the neighborhood.
Monga starts sharply, with smart black comedy, fantastic camerawork, and some stylistic touches that bring the Monga district to life in a lyrical and entertaining manner. Mosquito’s attraction to this life is easily understood; he has no father and few friends, and is disenchanted with his mother’s continued connection with a former boyfriend and mainlander played by director Doze Niu. Lead Mark Chao is innately identifiable, while the striking Ethan Ruan so adeptly inhabits the charismatic (and possibly homosexual) Monk that it’s easy to see why Mosquito idolizes him. As Mosquito’s scarred love interest, Ke Jia-yan is quietly alluring. For Mosquito and the audience, joining the gang seems like good times all around.
That is, before reality crashes in, sending Mosquito’s ideal life hurtling towards a tragic end. Mosquito finds a new parental figure in Dragon’s father, ebullient gang boss Geta (Ma Ju-lung), but there is a price to pay for joining the gang. Director Niu introduces that theme in one potent scene involving a Taiwan-style breakfast, a pair of chopsticks and a severed finger, wordlessly conveying the black reality of the gangster life. Membership in jiang hu means establishing a reputation but also making enemies and uncovering old grudges.
These themes don’t deviate from expected genre clichés, but the emotions strike the proper chords. Who hasn’t been young, angry, and looking to belong? Surely most of us, and in those themes, Monga easily affects.
Monga sputters in its later going; some narrative reveals are predictable and labored, and the film runs a bit long. Still, by the time Monga trends towards convention, it’s earned the goodwill to satisfy and even impress. The setting helps; the storied Monga district is home to Taipei’s oldest temple, a bustling night market and the city’s former red light district. Monga gives the district a distinct personality, using it as a colorful cultural backdrop for these characters and their well-worn struggles. Honor, friendship, family, loyalty and brotherhood - these themes are common, but Monga allows them the appearance of freshness. Perhaps after the third or fourth iteration of this new style Taiwan gangster film, Monga won’t impress as greatly. Right now, however, Monga sharply and entertainingly gives audiences something that feels like a discovery.