The Divergent Series: Allegiant
There’s nothing more to say about the final chapter of a teen-oriented film series being split into two long, drawn out three-hour indulgement fests only for fans. It is the norm now, and they do not question norms in Hollywood. After all, to quote the bosses at Lionsgate, the final book in this dystopian trilogy by Veronica Roth is “ideally suited to two strong and fulfilling movies.” The problem is that Divergent simply has not been as strong a franchise as Hunger Games or, unfortunately, Twilight. The only watchable star in the film, Kate Winslet, was executed in the previous film (okay, there’s also Naomi Watts), but her main villain replacement of Jeff Daniels is not so shabby either. We finally find out what led to this version of dystopia — but that’s about it. You’ll have to wait til next year to find out what happens in the end.
Colonia
Set during of the Chilean military coup of 1973, this film is about the Colonial Dignidad, a colony often described as a cult where no one can escape. The colony has been rocked with scandals, from serving as a torture center and prison for political dissidents to massive weapon caches to child abuse. The drama by German director Florian Gallenberger stars Emma Watson as a young woman who decides to join the colony to save her boyfriend, who was hauled off by the dictatorship under suspicion of supporting the opposition. The film solves the problem of casting Europeans in Chile by setting Watson’s character as a Lufthansa flight attendant and her husband being a German artist visiting the country. The weird thing, as many reviewers point out, is that the Europeans speak English in the film, and so does the rest of Chile. Then it goes into the atrocities of the camp, if you’re still interested at this point.
Labyrinth of Lies
First screened during the “human rights movie screening” portion of the Memorial Foundation of 228’s ceremony this year, Labyrinth of Lies was Germany’s submission for the Academy Award’s Best Foreign Language Film category this year, though it wasn’t nominated. Set in the 1950s, a time when Nazi atrocities were not publicly discussed, the story follows a young and idealistic prosecutor (who doesn’t even know what Auschwitz is) who learns more about the Holocaust and World War II through the trial of an Auschwitz guard caught working as a schoolteacher. He soon starts pursuing other Nazi remnants, and finds out more than he ever wanted to know. Many films cover the Holocaust itself and the later international pursuit of Nazis in hiding, but the first trials of them in their own country after the war is a relatively obscure topic.
Mole of Life (黑白)
Another hot-blooded film about the Taiwanese underworld, Mole of Life is inexplicably described as “Taiwan’s first gangland epic” (yeah, let’s pretend Monga (艋舺) does not exist). The story is hardly imaginative — set in 1998 Kaohsiung, we have a man who just got out of jail for murder and wants to come clean, and his brother who just happens to be a cop. Their fates surprisingly intertwine as they are sucked into the power struggle between the mob and law enforcement, where things are less clear cut than they seem. Like all Taiwanese commercial flicks, it emphasizes that it has “touching themes of love and family.” We are not trying to slam every local commercial film that we come across, but this one is just not convincing.
Senior
Continuing the outrageous promotional claims, this latest Thai horror film promises to “change your perspective on ghosts forever.” We have two spirit detective buddies, both high school seniors, working together to solve a murder that happened 50 years ago. One of the detectives is a ghost who apparently died in the 1980s, and they apparently can work together since the other one can, um, smell ghosts (nope, can’t see ‘em). His identity becomes one of the main plot drivers as the two dig up witnesses and encounter vengeful spirits on their way to uncovering the truth.
May 26 to June 1 When the Qing Dynasty first took control over many parts of Taiwan in 1684, it roughly continued the Kingdom of Tungning’s administrative borders (see below), setting up one prefecture and three counties. The actual area of control covered today’s Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung. The administrative center was in Taiwan Prefecture, in today’s Tainan. But as Han settlement expanded and due to rebellions and other international incidents, the administrative units became more complex. By the time Taiwan became a province of the Qing in 1887, there were three prefectures, eleven counties, three subprefectures and one directly-administered prefecture, with
It’s an enormous dome of colorful glass, something between the Sistine Chapel and a Marc Chagall fresco. And yet, it’s just a subway station. Formosa Boulevard is the heart of Kaohsiung’s mass transit system. In metro terms, it’s modest: the only transfer station in a network with just two lines. But it’s a landmark nonetheless: a civic space that serves as much more than a point of transit. On a hot Sunday, the corridors and vast halls are filled with a market selling everything from second-hand clothes to toys and house decorations. It’s just one of the many events the station hosts,
Among Thailand’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) villages, a certain rivalry exists between Arunothai, the largest of these villages, and Mae Salong, which is currently the most prosperous. Historically, the rivalry stems from a split in KMT military factions in the early 1960s, which divided command and opium territories after Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) cut off open support in 1961 due to international pressure (see part two, “The KMT opium lords of the Golden Triangle,” on May 20). But today this rivalry manifests as a different kind of split, with Arunothai leading a pro-China faction and Mae Salong staunchly aligned to Taiwan.
Two moves show Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) is gunning for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) party chair and the 2028 presidential election. Technically, these are not yet “officially” official, but by the rules of Taiwan politics, she is now on the dance floor. Earlier this month Lu confirmed in an interview in Japan’s Nikkei that she was considering running for KMT chair. This is not new news, but according to reports from her camp she previously was still considering the case for and against running. By choosing a respected, international news outlet, she declared it to the world. While the outside world
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