Joining the Berlin Film Festival for the third time, Taiwanese filmmaker Ho Ping (
The next day his hope proved easily fulfilled. The Rule of the Game (
Ho Ping's fourth feature film was the only Taiwanese film selected to participate in this year's "Berlinale." Not as famous as Taiwanese directors like Ho Hsiao-hsien (
PHOTO: YU SEN-LUN, TAIPEI TIMES
"I like this film a lot, especially the second time I saw it," said Dorothee Wenner, committee member of the International Forum of Young Directors of the Berlin Film Festival.
The Rule of the Game tells a simple story about murder, cheating and anxiety revolving around two characters. As the film's Chinese title says, the two men dig holes.
The film begins with a scene deep in the woods on a foggy night, with Turtle and Chewy -- played by Hsia Ching-ting (
Flash back to three days earlier where the story begins with Chewy's bizarre theory of digging holes. "Killing is easier than burying, stealing is easier than laundering money. A successful murder depends on how well you dig a hole. ... Taiwan has about 3000 reported missing persons, most of them are actually in holes." Chewy shares his theory with his friend since high school, Turtle, who is bent on getting back at a businessman named Will, who cheated him out of millions of dollars.
Chewy is more excited about his plan for digging holes, than he is for helping Turtle. The two get shovels, find a good spot and prepare a big hole for their victim. Will, as it turns out, has other enemies and has been abducted by his wife and her boyfriend. Turtle then ends up killing a hitman who returns home and catches him having sex with his wife. But now, after burying the wrong guy, Turtle and Chewy have to dig another hole.
A comedy filled with irony and absurdity, The Rule of the Game is a simple story told with with witty dialogue reflecting the anxious minds of Taiwanese -- every character seems willing to die for money. It is also a film with exotic although stereotypical scenes of organized crime in Taiwan: vulgar, bright colored shirts, Mercedez Benzes and KTVs. There is even a very detailed and provocative scene about how to assassinate someone in a KTV parlor.
Ho's direction in this film is straightforward, "less technique, more drama," he said. His previous films Shiba (
Chang and Hsia as Chewy and Turtle are the film's greatest assets. They are like a two-man Taiwanese version of Reservoir Dogs, with all the filthy language in Mandarin and Taiwanese.
"My part is basically a man with a screwed-up mind. He is a Taiwanese businessman who failed in China. The second generation of mainlanders, he considers neither [Taiwan nor China] home and feels lonely a lot," said Chang at the film's question-and-answer session. "Chewy is the least greedy guy in the film, but with the most serious problems. He is not pursuing money, sex, or a better future. He's lost all hope and desire." said Chang.
Chang, who also starred in Wolves Cry Under the Moon said he has worked with Ho so often in film and television that they had a tacit understanding of one another. "Acting in this film is a special a thrill because I can improvise a lot with the dialogue," he said.
Indeed, underneath the surface of a comedy about killing and gangs, there is a subtext Ho is wanting to express about cheating, wandering and losing one's sense of belonging.
"This movie is also about destiny and the irony of my generation of Taiwanese. When the hole is filled, it becomes a grave. Perhaps Chewy should dig a hole for himself, a well-planed hole where he could lie down and rest with comfort and dignity," said Ho.
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