Although the coronavirus pandemic severely impacted the global film industry, Taiwanese cinema prospered. This was not only due to delays in releasing US blockbusters – the country’s effective health control policies and the efforts of local filmmakers also played a part. As a result, total domestic box office revenue grew by about 26%, capturing a market share of 17.02% compared to 6.9% the previous year. It is fair to say that 2020 saw the best results of the last decade, and the trend shows no signs of stopping.
Unlike in the past, when domestic cinema revenue came from a few titles each year, Taiwanese films in 2020 were all uniformly well received, something which confirmed the excellent health of the industry. The efforts of a few emerging filmmakers, who managed to combine creativity with the right amount of commercial appeal, helped to make it shine bright. Among the top 10 titles in the final rankings were six debut films, including Little Big Women by Joseph Hsu, The Silent Forest by Ko Chen-nien, and I WeirDO by Liao Ming-yi, all of which were selected for the Golden Horse Awards’ Best New Director award. These directors are new talents with enormous potential.
On January 21, 2020, on the eve of Spring Festival, Taiwan’s first case of Covid-19 was diagnosed, deterring audiences from attending theatres. During the Lunar New Year, audiences were also kept away by inferior works like Your Love Song and Sent from Above.
During the Lunar New Year, the health emergency affected not only Hollywood productions such as Mulan and No Time to Die, whose screening dates were postponed, but also several domestic films that were originally scheduled to hit theatres around that time. The only exception was the ghost-movie The Bridge Curse, released in theatres, which screened at the end of February to take advantage of plot references to the leap year. Based on a legend about supernatural phenomena on a college campus, the film proved to be innovative without violating the rules of the genre, and took a good NT$58 million.
In March, as the virus spread rapidly in the West, worries about the health situation rose, and the annual Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival and the Taiwan International Documentary Festival were half-heartedly cancelled. That same month brought Acting Out of Love, directed by well-known comedian and host Ken Lin (A Ken), who made debut in the triple role of set designer, director and actor. The film, which centres on a quirky love story between an extra with dreams of superstardom and an inexperienced assistant director, did not meet with audience approval, despite the participation of celebrities such as Jay Chou and Wen Shenghao, who are old acquaintances of the director.
The rampant global pandemic, and fears that gatherings would spread the infection further, led to the cancellation of all major international film festivals, and most chose to go online. Fortunately, prevention efforts in Taiwan paid off: the Taipei Film Festival, which took place at the end of June as planned, may have become the “forbidden dream” of film buffs around the world. By the start of the summer holidays in July, the emergency had been contained, and many films were released in cinemas. These included Leaving Virginia, which was selected for the New International Talent Award at the Taipei Film Festival, A Choo, adapted from an original work by Giddens Ko, and Wild Sparrow, which had won the Best Actress Award at the Taipei Film Awards.
A Choo, starring Ariel Lin and Ko Chen-tung, had remained in limbo for over six years after an episode in which Ko was caught using marijuana. Although the film faced stiff competition from Korea’s Peninsula, the story of passionate love succeeded in attracting audiences, and A Choo was crowned the first big hit of the summer season.
August was marked by a number of new releases, including I WeirDO, Get the Hell Out and Do You Love Me as I Love You, a selection which represents the diversity of genres in Formosan cinema. I WeirDO, directed and photographed by Liao Ming-yi, was shot entirely with an iPhone. The story of two obsessive-compulsive lovers, played by Austin Lin and Nikki Hsieh, explores paranoia, change and persistence in love. The unusual video formatting technique perfectly suits the content, and resulted in a triumph with critics and moviegoers, with a total revenue of NT$45 million.
Get the Hell Out, the debut feature by newcomer Wang I-fan and a rare case of a Taiwanese zombie film, cleverly combines living dead, bizarre comedy and other elements, exposing the greedy hypocrisy of politicians through an exaggerated satire. Unfortunately, due to the epidemic outbreak, the release originally scheduled for April was pushed to August, holding up the film’s promotion. This, coupled with the general apathy of Taiwanese audiences for black comedies, led to a poor and unfortunately predictable sales response. On the other hand, Do You Love Me as I Love You, directed by Jian Shiue-bin and adapted from best-selling author Fourone’s original work, features a romantic triangle between leads Chen Yu, Tsao Yu-ning and Patricia Lin. Given the Taiwanese’s favorite subject matter (school-set romances), the audience response was enthusiastic, with the film grossing nearly NT$80 million.
The autumn confirmed the positive trend in Taiwan cinema. The sequel The Rope Curse 2, produced by the same team as the first instalment, adds elements of Thai spirituality represented by the deity Thao Vetsuwan, which are combined with fights in the style of Zhong Kui “the demon catcher.” Strong competition from Christopher Nolan’s Tenet did not prevent the film from grossing a respectable NT$72 million. Produced by Chu Yu-ning and directed by Liu Kuang-hui, Your Name Engraved Herein is a gay love story spanning three decades. Starring Edward Chen and Tseng Chin-hua, the beauty of the imagery and the careful staging earned the work a record-breaking result for the genre. It took over NT$100 million and won the appreciation of numerous fans.
Director Chen Yu-hsun returned for a third time to collaborate with producers Lee Lieh and Yeh Ju-feng in My Missing Valentine, released nearly three years after The Village of No Return. The central concept of the film, fully developed after a 20-year incubation period, revolves around a dynamic and rushed postal worker dealing with a slow and clumsy bus driver. The mysterious “time gap” created by two such different rhythms of life drives an incredible yet engaging love story.
With My Missing Valentine, Chen Yu-hsun returned to comedy. Newcomer Patty Lee and the well-known young actor Liu Kuan-ting convinced everyone with a performance full of natural, intense feelings. In addition to the hilarious, everyday interactions between the protagonists, the themes of disappearance and forgetting allowed the highs and lows of everyone's lives to shine through. With a budget of only NT$40 million, it is certainly a small production, but the technical aspects are impeccable. The film garnered 11 nominations at last year’s Golden Horse Awards, and this resulted in five awards, including feature film, director, editing, visual effects and original screenplay.
Other standouts at the Golden Horse Awards included The Silent Forest, Classmates Minus and Dear Tenant. The former, directed by Ko Chen-nian was based on true events. It boldly tackles the problem of sexual violence perpetrated and then covered up in schools for the deaf and dumb. The shocking and highly dramatic style of the film, and the fact that it opened the Taipei Film Festival, caused debate among audiences, and the excellent soundtrack and performances by young up-and-coming actors Buffy Chen and Kim Hyun-bin also earned the film popularity. Despite the sensitive subject matter, word of mouth proved effective, shooting The Silent Forest to sixth place at the local box office with a take of nearly NT$50 million.
Classmates Minus is the latest work by director Huang Hsin-yao, following The Great Buddha+. It features four classmates moving into middle age, portrayed by Nadow Lin, Liu Kuan-ting, Shih Ming-shuai and Cheng Jen-shuo. The tragicomic tale evoked a great emotional response from the audience.
After being away from the screen for five years, Cheng Yu-chieh returned with Dear Tenant, which is the most moving and poignant of his films thanks to detailed field research, carefully crafted script, and touching performances by the actors. The box office gross of over NT$38 million confirms the film’s excellence.
Dear Tenant is a thriller that revolves around death and inheritance. Human nature is portrayed as cold and detached, but still full of emotion, as it explores the relationship between blood ties and familial affection. Taiwan was the first country in Asia to pass a law on same-sex marriage, and the film brings to the fore important issues such as the adoption of children by gay couples, and how to deal with inheritance under these circumstances.
After the death of his partner (played by Jack Yao), the main character (Morning Mo) moves into the house as a “tenant” to care for his sick mother and a young child. However, this behavior raises suspicion and doubt when the old woman dies. Morning Mo won awards at both the Taipei Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards for his uplifting portrayal of a man torn between familial affection, longing, regret and atonement, while Chen Shu-fang, as the old mother, also received a Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Little Big Women, again starring the veteran Chen Shu-fang, hit theatres right after Dear Tenant and took first place on the winner’s podium. Thanks to its top-notch cast and a complex plot revolving around family relationships, it grossed an impressive NT$188 million. Director and screenwriter Joseph Hsu, inspired by the short film of the same name, tells a story in which a birthday party for an elderly matriarch is interwoven with a funeral, revealing the affection and antagonisms between two generations. Chen Shufang’s performance is worthy of note, and this crowned her the queen of the year’s Golden Horse Awards.
After a year of coping with the pandemic, while Hollywood is still waiting for better times, Taiwanese cinema is being nourished with new blood. Last year, the total revenue from domestic films reached NT$877 million, but in the first four months of this year alone, box office revenues already reached 85% of last year’s total, thanks to productions such as Gatao: The Last Stray, Man in Love and others.
Three years ago, Gatao 2: Rise of the King was released and became the box office hit among domestic films during the Spring Festival. This year, Gatao: The Last Stray came out in the same period, not only expanding the “Gatao Universe,” but also setting a new record for box office among Taiwanese series films. It took over NT$160 million.
Directed by Ray Jiang and starring Cheng Jen-shuo and Nikki Hsieh, the film’s story covers the six years preceding Gatao 2. Cheng Jen-shuo plays the right-hand man of the gangster in charge of the North Fort. Besides his love for a female photographer (Nikki Hsieh), we also learn some backstories of the protagonists of Gatao 2. A new female perspective is added to the concept, which still focuses on the theme of criminal gangs. This touch of tenderness creates a new type of masculinity with more grace and romance.
Man in Love, which was loosely based on a Lady and the Tramp-style scenario, did even better. The unlikely match of a lovestruck thug and a lonely, reticent woman, taken from the Korean original of the same name, was revived by director Yin Chen-hao to incorporate typical Taiwanese elements such as temple markets and the warmth of country folk. The perfect chemistry between Roy Chiu and Tiffany Hsu catalyzed the romance, and the film grossed over NT$350 million.
The popularity of local productions in Taiwan did not stop there. During the enormous success of Man in Love, Listen Before You Sing also won some recognition. Director Shine Yang, already the author of two documentaries about the Vox Nativa Children’s Choir directed by the conductor Bukut Tasvaluan, made a feature-length film that took 12 years to prepare. It tells the story of a physical education teacher with no musical background, who guides a group of aboriginal schoolchildren to form a choir, helping them regain their self-confidence.
Shine Yang, who takes on the role of the scriptwriter and director, created an inspiring story that, simple and touching as it is, shows us the difficulties of those in the most isolated regions of Taiwan. A group of very young actors, all non-professionals who have benefited from musical appreciation, accompany the main characters, Umin Boya and Ella Chen. With the shadow of the pandemic enveloping the whole world, the positive energy of sincere emotions had a powerful healing effect.
Translated from Chinese into English by Francesco Nati.
Hsiang Yi-fei