E. SHA Age (藝霞年代)
The only Taiwanese release for this week is a documentary that looks back at — and recreates — the exploits of the famed E. SHA song and dance troupe, which folded in 1984 after more than two decades of performances and international tours. This is a real trip down memory lane for older viewers; younger folks smitten with boy and girl band ephemera could do worse than check out what their parents and grandparents were enjoying at a difficult time in Taiwan’s history. Screening at Cinema 7 (絕色影城) in Ximending, the Sun theater (日新大戲院) in Taichung and the Vieshow complex in Tainan from today, then at the Vieshow complex in Kaohsiung from next Friday.
Halloween II
Michael Myers is back in this Rob Zombie-directed sequel to his sociologically angled remake from a few years ago, though it is not a remake of the 1981 sequel (sorry, hospital horror fans). As subtle and as sophisticated as two kicks to the throat, escaped lunatic Michael continues his rampage in search of his sister who escaped his clutches in Part 1. The violence in this one is so brutal and metronomic that it will sorely test those who think they’re watching a scary movie; the dreamlike glimpses inside Michael’s mind could send others into fits. There is, however, a welcome and muscular cameo by Margot Kidder.
Fame
Another remake, this time of the iconic performance film of the early 1980s, targeting an audience that wasn’t even born at the time; in Taiwan, many will never have heard of the original. A bunch of talented kids learn the ropes at the New York City High School of Performing Arts; some will make it, others won’t, but it all ends in a big number that won’t be selling albums or (these days) generating massive iPod downloads, despite the talent on show. Generally, this was poorly received, but it might play better for those who never saw the original and harbor fantasies of making it big in showbiz.
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky
Within a matter of weeks, out comes another film about Coco Chanel. This one delves not into her rise to the top ranks of the fashion world, but with her subsequent affair with the famed (and married) composer. Unlike Coco Before Chanel, this one is liberally spiced with sex scenes as the scheming Coco gets her man. The rather unsympathetic Stravinsky is played by Mads Mikkelsen, who was simply perfect as James Bond’s gambling, bleeding-eye foe in Casino Royale.
The Admiral
The relentless hunt for European product by Taiwan’s small distributors this week brings us an apparently revisionist Russian epic that turns monarchist naval commander Alexander Kolchak into a nationalist hero for 21st century viewers. The good admiral starts the film in a battle against the Germans during World War I and continues by repelling Bolshevik forces on land. Meanwhile, this heroic fellow has taken to lusting after the wife of one of his colleagues. Sounds like a real charmer. Still, if you’re into period frocks and taboo romance ...
Sing, Salmon, Sing!
“Salmon” would appear to be the unkind nickname given to an enthusiastic but insecure Japanese schoolgirl who loves singing in her school choir. Unfortunately, she flips out when an unflattering photo of her appears in the school rag and, despondent, quits the group. Musical rehabilitation follows when she falls in with a group of “punks” who are musically inclined. This family-friendly fare comes with generous amounts of music. Remarkably, it doesn’t seem to be based on a manga. Japanese title: Utatama.
Kitaro the Movie: Japan Explodes!! PLUS Digimon Savers the Movie: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode
Gegege no Kitaro, the ancient boy spirit who labors to keep the human world free of supernatural strife, is back in this animated film for kids after a run of two live-action pictures. Kitaro answers a request for help from a female spirit, which doesn’t bode well given the film’s subtitle. Accompanying Kitaro is a short Digimon film with a long title in which our heroes face an evil being that sends masses of people to sleep with mysterious thorns.
The Man Who Loves
The man here is a forlorn chap who can’t seem to sustain a relationship, a problem worsened by the model love life of his gay brother. This Italian film is a sincere attempt to depict the frailties of men in relationships and offers a few name stars (Monica Bellucci, whom the hero breaks up with, is the most familiar to Taiwanese audiences), but its critical reception has been so-so. Starts tomorrow.
Cross-Straits Films Exhibition
Here’s another mini-festival of six Chinese films, this time at the Xinyi Vieshow in Taipei from Monday to Wednesday next week and the Vieshow Durban in Taichung from Wednesday through Friday. The titles are the disaster flick Super Typhoon (超強颱風), which Variety described as “low-rent” camp and whose hero is a mayor (sounds like a must-see); Wild Horse From Shangri-La (命懸800公里), Apology (道歉), The Ring of Rainbow Flower (夏天有風吹過), Old Fish (千鈞一髮) and Wheat
(長平大戰之麥田). The last two open separately next week and the week after. Some of the films will introduce the director and actors after the screening.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby