The pandemic continued to affect the global film market in 2021, and Taiwanese box-office results oscillated as a result. Films performed better at the beginning and end of the year than in the middle. But despite two months of lost revenues because of the lockdown, in terms of total revenue and market share, Taiwanese films delivered a brilliant annual performance. Three works surpassed the NT$100 million threshold, and market share jumped from 17.02% in 2020 to 26.2% in 2021, setting a record for Taiwanese cinema for the past 30 years.
Statistics show that since the start of 2021, Taiwanese films performed well right from the start, first with The Soul and I Missed You, and then with Gatao: The Last Stray were victorious, with the latter achieving profits of NT$160 million. The release of Man in Love at the end of March registered better-than-expected sales, breaking the 400 million mark. A month later, the cumulative sales of Taiwanese films reached NT$630 million.
Man in Love is director Yin Chen-hao’s first film, based on the 2014 Korean production of the same name directed by Yu Kab-yeol. Yin Chen-hao was already well known for creating popular music videos in which he depicted the emotions of ordinary people. This style of storytelling caught the attention of next-generation filmmaker Cheng Wei-hao and producer Jin Bailun, who invited him to direct the Taiwanese remake.
Man in Love is about the life of a criminal dedicated to debt collection, an apparently tough guy with a kind heart. One day, during an operation, he meets the daughter of one of his debtors and falls in love with her, so he tries to date her. The woman initially treats the man with hostility and tries to refuse him, but the sincerity of his feelings, and his witty and thoughtful ways, eventually win her heart. The man decides to turn his back on his life as a criminal to start afresh with her.
After obtaining the remake rights, producers Cheng Wei-hao and Jin Bailun discussed how to localise the story. While drafting the script, after a period of scouting they selected the areas of Taoyuan, Pingzhen, and Zhongli as the main locations for the film. This choice delivers a work that smells of Taiwanese villages and streets, and involves new immigrants in some of the roles.
Although the plot of the Taiwanese Man in Love mostly overlaps with the Korean version, the new characters have stories and backgrounds readjusted to the local market, and the film has been packaged to suit its two charming protagonists, Roy Chiu and Tiffany Xu. Chiu’s character, who speaks in a dialect, effectively represents local culture. The original tear-jerking Korean production was transformed into a drama with typical Taiwanese humour, and this left a strong impression on the audience.
After the Spring Festival, the great success of Formosan films, reflected in the excellent sales figures, led all market players to expect an exceptional year. The Alliance for the Revival of Taiwanese Cinema, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and orchestrated by the Bureau of Film, Television and Pop Music Industry (the authority in charge of Taiwan’s film industry), launched the “Let’s Get Taiwanese Films Off the Ground” campaign in late April. This included 22 local productions in a joint promotion. Dennis Wu, the then-president of the alliance, who also owns Vieshow Cinemas, had hoped that total revenue from Taiwanese films in 2021 would smash the NT$1 billion mark, surpassing the previous year’s NT$877 million.
Despite optimism shared by many, the situation suddenly took a bad turn in May. The spread of the virus on the island, which had been successfully controlled before, exploded again at the beginning of the month and, after two weeks, the epidemic prevention alert in both Taipei and neighboring New Taipei was raised to Level 3 for the first time, and then extended to the entire country from May 19. The population was asked to stay home and only go out for absolute necessities, eating in indoor areas was forbidden, and only take-away food was allowed. All leisure and entertainment venues were closed on the island.
Movie theatres were forced into a temporary shutdown and the film industry took a hit. Several releases were postponed, including the blockbuster Fast & Furious 9, originally scheduled for mid-May, the Taiwanese Kidnapped Soul and Reclaim which were scheduled for May and June, as well as Final Exam and other titles. The Taipei Film Festival, held annually between late June and early July, had run as normal in 2020, becoming a rarity among global film events, but last year’s cancellation was unavoidable, and it was postponed to late September.
After more than two months of Level 3 alerts for epidemic prevention, the situation in Taiwan improved. Starting from July 27, venues gradually reopened, including movie theaters in Taipei. In the beginning, it was only possible to occupy a quarter of the seats available in theatres, the audience had to sit in a checkered layout, and food and drink were forbidden, although concessions were reintroduced on November 2.
The “downtime period” of May, June and July finally came to an end, and things reverted to normal between August and September. During these months, Hollywood productions such as Fast & Furious 9, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Dune were released. Although the response was not as good as previous summer blockbusters, the box-office revenue still exceeded the NT$100 million threshold. At the same time, small Taiwanese productions such as Final Exam, Jang-Gae: The Foreigner, and Grit simply did not have the potential to achieve great box office sales.
At the beginning of October, thanks to adequate health prevention and the high-profile Golden Horse Awards, Taiwanese films reached new heights of success. The shortlist for the Golden Horse Awards included The Falls, Til We Meet Again, Treat or Trick and American Girl, which were all representative of various genres. All received wide appreciation.
The Falls, which was written, directed, and photographed by Chung Mong-hong, is set in Taipei during the Covid period and tells the story of a mother and daughter who move from alienation to intimacy. Once again, Chung received the best feature film award, following 2019’s A Sun; Alyssa Chia, who played a schizophrenic woman, was also crowned the best lead actress. The semi-autobiographical American Girl, written and directed by first-timer Feng-i Fiona Roan, talks about a mother and daughter who return home after their immigration dream is shattered. The SARS period depicted in the film accurately echoes the condition we are currently experiencing.
Til We Meet Again, written and directed by Giddens Ko, is an adaptation of his best-selling novel of the same name published in 2002. Despite several big-screen adaptations of his works, in Ko’s words, Til We Meet Again was the most challenging, especially because of the fantasy theme of love between life and death, whose special effects required a high level of technical achievement. In the end, the film successfully overcame all difficulties, winning three Golden Horse Awards for visual effects, makeup and costume, and sound effects.
Til We Meet Again, starring Ko Chen-tung, Vivian Sung, Gingle Wang, and Umin Boya, is about young Alan (Ko Chen-tung) who, killed by lightning, ends up in the underworld and loses his memory. Determined to reincarnate as a human being, he chooses to “accumulate virtue points” by becoming the god of love, and teams up with the impulsive Pinky (Gingle Wang) to help young people find their soul mates. However, the real world is much more complicated than expected, and Alan runs into all sorts of trouble, even seeing his ex-lover despairing over him and still walking his dog. Failing to arrange a love match for the woman, Alan eventually must defend her from an enemy in a previous life.
There are certainly several points of contact with the recent Korean film Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds on the theme of travelling to the underworld. Yet Til We Meet Again deftly plays with familiar concepts of life, death, and reincarnation to create an underworld that combines tradition with modernity. The intensity of love and hate conveys the horror of emotional obsession and the importance of letting go. With this story, Giddens Ko rediscovers the romantic passion and humour displayed in You Are the Apple of My Eye, and he adds an element of mystery related to the dark forces. Even on a technical level, it’s a step above the original: special effects, editing, and sound effects lead us from laughter to tears, from scare to emotion, and the box office revenue was a great NT$240 million.
Following More than Blue and Man in Love, Treat or Trick is another Taiwanese commercial production adapted from a Korean original, yet it surpasses it in terms of production, character design, and plot structure, even including parodic references that only fans can grasp. The film received seven Golden Horse Award nominations.
Directed by Hsu Fu-hsiang, and starring Chen Bolin, Chen Yi-wen, Liu Kuan-ting, Da-her Lin, and Pai Ching-i, Treat or Trick is a remake of 2004’s To Catch a Virgin Ghost. It’s about a policeman who’s tasked with finding a batch of stolen diamonds that has fallen into criminal hands. He follows the trail to a remote village, where the innocent-looking villagers are driven by sinister motives. The quirky village in the Taiwanese countryside soon turns into a death trap. By inserting characters like a naive assistant and a ghost woman, the film also manages to get the audience laughing.
In Treat or Trick, former TV series director Hsu Fu-hsiang handles comedy for the first time, and integrates elements of different genres, including detective, crime, action, horror, and suspense. Much of the fun is a result of collaborations between the actors. Set inside a closed and somewhat absurd space, the film keeps up a fast pace, and the unbridled imagination of the director leads to some witty ironies. Liu Guanting, in the role of a cadet who accidentally joins the police force, expresses a subtle humour, and pays homage to the undercover Tony Leung in Infernal Affairs. Liu earned a Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor for the second time.
By now, remakes, transnational collaboration, and genre transformations are common. The contribution of original Korean productions provides a new stimulus to the Taiwanese film industry, which is always looking for new market opportunities. Whether it’s the romantic and tear-jerking Man in Love, or the unsettling and alternative Treat or Trick, Taiwanese movies adapted from Korean ideas always manage to capture and improve the essence of the original works. They improve the technical aspects, and present new content that’s closer to local tastes. They reinvented Korean films by adding an unmistakable Formosan flavour.
It is worth noting that both Man in Love and Treat or Trick were made after acquiring the adaptation rights, and then looking for a suitable new director to take care of the filming. Yin Chen-hao’s music videos and TV series were known for having a strong “local” flavor, and his promotion to the director of Man in Love was undoubtedly the right move. For Hsu Fu-hsiang, who created funny and subversive shorts like Z046 and Wonderful Day, Treat or Trick was a chance to focus on his favourite style of black comedy. The two directors’ big-screen successes not only earned them Golden Horse Award nominations for Best New Director, but made substantial contributions to the Formosan genre film industry.
Translated from Chinese into English by Francesco Nati.
Hsiang Yi-fei