A fading genre that pales before testosterone-charged gangster and martial art flicks, romances are hard to find these days in Chinese-language cinema. For those with a soft spot for a genuine love story, Happy Birthday (生日快樂) is a wish come true. And to those who look down upon such films as no more than chick flicks, this film merits appreciation for its quality filmmaking.
Adapted from a novella by singer and actress Rene Liu (劉若英), who apparently is a versatile talent, the film tells of a decade-long love story between Mi (played by Liu) and Nam (played by Louis Koo, 古天樂). A piano major in college, Mi gives her heart to Nam but struggles to keep a distance from the wealthy woman magnet, who is crazy about the baffling Mi.
The two part after graduation, yet the love between them remains. Mi believes that their story will have a happy ending after she gains more self-confidence and overcomes the fear of losing the love of her life.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF APPLAUSE FILM
The dream shatters when a text message from Nam says he will soon marry another girl. Years later, Mi still receives Nam's messages sent on her birthday and trusts that their love will last till the end of time.
Directed by award-winning cinematographer and director Jingle Ma (馬楚成), the technically accomplished film is an eye-pleasing visual treat in which the pure and innocent aura of romance is accented by lyrical lighting. The editing is smooth and stylish.
An early sequence made up of intercut shots of the grown-up Mi, flashbacks of Mi's mom thumping downstairs and Nam tersely explaining the character's deeply rooted fear of losing her loved ones is a demonstration of how a narrative can be enhanced through thoughtful editing.
Part of the film's merits also go to the finely adapted screenplay (director Silvia Chang (張艾嘉) is one of the screen writers). Love and romance are manifested in seemingly trivial details of daily life, in subtle gestures and exchanges of gaze rather than words and set-piece performances. The delicate touch of the narration saves the film from excessive sentimentalism with the revelation of Nam's death.
The film benefits from its trust in its actors, who are given a rare freedom to bring their talents into full play. Award-winning actress Liu grips the heart with her superb portrait of one of the strongest female characters that have come out of Chinese-language cinema in recent years. Echoing Chang's emotionally complicated female leads in Tempting Heart (心動, 1999) and 20, 30, 40 (2004), Mi is an independent modern woman who is kind and strong but insecure and unable to open her heart to love.
Graced by fine performances, intelligent storytelling and elegant simplicity, Happy Birthday offers an enjoyable 90 minutes of escape from the all too cynical world where love has lost its simplest meaning.
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
April 21 to April 27 Hsieh Er’s (謝娥) political fortunes were rising fast after she got out of jail and joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in December 1945. Not only did she hold key positions in various committees, she was elected the only woman on the Taipei City Council and headed to Nanjing in 1946 as the sole Taiwanese female representative to the National Constituent Assembly. With the support of first lady Soong May-ling (宋美齡), she started the Taipei Women’s Association and Taiwan Provincial Women’s Association, where she
It is one of the more remarkable facts of Taiwan history that it was never occupied or claimed by any of the numerous kingdoms of southern China — Han or otherwise — that lay just across the water from it. None of their brilliant ministers ever discovered that Taiwan was a “core interest” of the state whose annexation was “inevitable.” As Paul Kua notes in an excellent monograph laying out how the Portuguese gave Taiwan the name “Formosa,” the first Europeans to express an interest in occupying Taiwan were the Spanish. Tonio Andrade in his seminal work, How Taiwan Became Chinese,
Mongolian influencer Anudari Daarya looks effortlessly glamorous and carefree in her social media posts — but the classically trained pianist’s road to acceptance as a transgender artist has been anything but easy. She is one of a growing number of Mongolian LGBTQ youth challenging stereotypes and fighting for acceptance through media representation in the socially conservative country. LGBTQ Mongolians often hide their identities from their employers and colleagues for fear of discrimination, with a survey by the non-profit LGBT Centre Mongolia showing that only 20 percent of people felt comfortable coming out at work. Daarya, 25, said she has faced discrimination since she
RSS