The story of Taiwan cinema in 2013 is also the story of its relationship to the Mainland industry across the Strait, even as its 1.4 billion potential moviegoers remained the elephant in the room. The most successful Taiwan films were very local in flavour with almost zero export potential, including a handful of well-performing documentaries. There were remarkably few co-productions with Europe or Asia, including China.
In 2013, 49 Taiwan produced or (co-produced) films were released in cinemas for the first time. Only five are co-productions with China, compared to 10 in 2012 and 9 in 2011. In contrast, there were 18 Taiwan productions (or co-productions) released in China last year. Only 10 China-produced films can be released theatrically in Taiwan, with the quota winners chosen at random in a government-administered lottery each January.
The most successful Taiwan co-productions in China were Shanghai-set Tiny Times 1 (FEFF 2014) and Tiny Times 2 that together made US$125 million on mainland screens. Although the films had many Taiwan cast and crew members, permitting them to bypass the quota lottery, they offer little comfort for Taiwan cinema’s own identity. Author-turned-director Guo Jingming is a mainlander, targeting a Mainland audience, even if his novels are popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The three most successful Taiwan films on home-ground were Kwan’s gangster comedy David Loman, Chen Yuhsun’s culinary comedy Zone Pro Site and Chi Po-lin’s aerial photography documentary Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above. None are co-productions. Only Zone Pro Site has been distributed theatrically outside Taiwan, with small releases in Singapore and Malaysia. It is so far the only one of the three to have had public screenings at a festival outside Taiwan.
David Loman, the highest grossing, made NT$122 million (US$4.04 million) in Taipei. Zone Pro Site and Beyond Beauty made NT$102 million (US$3.39 million) and NT$99.6 million (US$3.30 million) respectively.
Together, the three films represented two-thirds of all box office income for Taiwan-produced films in the capital. The remaining 46 films shared box office income of NT$167 million (US$5.05 million) in Taipei. Nationwide numbers are likely no more than double that.
There were three documentaries among the top five local films of the year. Twelve Nights, about stray dogs, made NT$24.9 million (US$825,000) in Taipei. Concert movie Mayday Nowhere 3D made NT$18.8 million (US$623,000) in the capital. They were among a dozen domestic documentaries released last year, with an average box office of NT$13.8 million (US$456,000) compared to NT$8.81 million (US$292,000) for the average fiction film. Another striking statistic is that 29 of the 49 Taiwan productions released in 2013 – or 59.2 per cent – were directed or co-directed by a debut director. They include David Loman and Beyond Beauty. Zone Pro Site is the comeback film of its director after a gap of sixteen years.
Chen Yu-hsun may not be new, but he’s starting afresh after dipping his toes with episodes in recent portmanteau films Juliets and 10+10.
However, it was debuting directors who were responsible for the freshest films of 2013, including several in the romantic comedy category. They include Jeff Chang’s Machi Action, Hsieh Chun-yi’s Apolitical Romance (FEFF 2013) and Donnie Lai’s Campus Confidential (FEFF 2014). The similarly fresh Forever Love (FEFF 2013) set in the milieu of Taiwan’s local language cinema industry, was co-directed by two relatively young directors, Shiao Lishiou and Kitamura Toyoharu. Is 2014 going to be any different?
In the first half of 2014, 13 releases are scheduled for release compared to 20 in the first half of 2013. Only three are by first-time directors, baseball period epic KANO (FEFF 2014), con-artist drama My Mandala and documentary Mazu Procession, co-directed by actor Richie Ren. KANO is proving a major hit, having crossed over NT$100 million (US$3.31 million) in Taipei by early April. It was still second-ranked in the box office after one month in cinemas.
The second-half of the year includes several anticipated titles, including Yee Chih-yen’s Meeting Dr. Sun in August, and Doze Niu’s Paradise in Service, Chang Jung-chi’s Partners in Crime and Sylvia Chang’s Nian Nian in September. Action-comedy sequel Black & White: The Dawn of Assault is also excepting an autumn release. Hou Hsiao-hsien’s martial arts fantasy The Assassin, currently in post-production, isn’t expected to be screened until 2015.
Of these, Black & White and The Assassin are only possible because of the growing China market. Two years ago, Black & White Episode I: The Dawn of Assault was rebranded as a China co-production where it made RMB$89.5 million (US$14.4 million), the majority of its global box office. The Assassin, set in the Tang Dynasty, has been in development for at least 25 years with many stops and start in the past decade as it struggled to secure its budget.
Also returning to production in 2014 is Giddens Ko, the director of You Are the Apple of My Eye (FEFF 2012), with his second feature, Kung Fu. The action-comedy won’t be released until 2015. In the meantime, he has produced several films, including documentary Twelve Nights, romantic comedy Café, Waiting, Love and superhero fantasy A Choo. China’s e-commerce site Alibaba recently announced that it would co-finance five of his forthcoming films.
Stephen Cremin