As another adaptation of Taiwanese illustration book author Jimmy Liao's (
Unfortunately, the film has turned out to be a colorful and beautiful picture that looks like an extended version of a music video. It may be creative in creating characters and plot for the originally thinly-plotted illustration book and the performances are on the whole OK, but the result is less than the sum of its parts.
The original story of Sound of Colors is basically about a blind girl's lonely journey walking aimlessly through different MRT stations. The girl has a rich imagination and "sees" in her heart the colorful wonderland that is the world of the underground.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROTHERS
The blind girl finds love, while a parallel romance takes place in a Shanghai subway station. Basically, fans of Liao's book should not expect a faithful adaptation. Rather, they should see it as a romance comedy with the Liao-style paintbox of bright colors, in which characters are clad with stylish, fluffy sweaters and scarves. The theme songs are in French, to add atmosphere.
Tony Leung (
In another plot line, Chang, an advertising company sales representative in Taipei sends a Christmas card to a girl whom he has a crush on. But the love letter is somehow switched and goes to Shanghai.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROTHERS
His Shanghai client,, Dong Jie, a young business woman replies, revealing that she is also recovering from a failed lover affair. Chang then flies to Shanghai to find her. They meet in the subway, and, naturally enough, they fall for each other.
The romance of the Hong Kong couple, Leung and Yeung, looks more natural, because the details about how they cope with problems are more authentic. But the Shanghai romance is just plain cheesy.
Even more artificial is the character of Wing Fan (
He is the one who secretly matches up the two couples. Somehow his short appearances do not connect too well to the plot and rather than feeling this is a miracle, the overwhelming thought is: this is a bit bizarre.
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
Despite the intense sunshine, we were hardly breaking a sweat as we cruised along the flat, dedicated bike lane, well protected from the heat by a canopy of trees. The electric assist on the bikes likely made a difference, too. Far removed from the bustle and noise of the Taichung traffic, we admired the serene rural scenery, making our way over rivers, alongside rice paddies and through pear orchards. Our route for the day covered two bike paths that connect in Fengyuan District (豐原) and are best done together. The Hou-Feng Bike Path (后豐鐵馬道) runs southward from Houli District (后里) while the
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
Mirror mirror on the wall, what’s the fairest Disney live-action remake of them all? Wait, mirror. Hold on a second. Maybe choosing from the likes of Alice in Wonderland (2010), Mulan (2020) and The Lion King (2019) isn’t such a good idea. Mirror, on second thought, what’s on Netflix? Even the most devoted fans would have to acknowledge that these have not been the most illustrious illustrations of Disney magic. At their best (Pete’s Dragon? Cinderella?) they breathe life into old classics that could use a little updating. At their worst, well, blue Will Smith. Given the rapacious rate of remakes in modern
RSS