More than 2,500 people in Taipei ushered in 2025 by attending an event on New Year’s Eve inspired by the crying scene in Vive l’amour (愛情萬歲), with local and foreign participants coming together to celebrate the emotional resonance of the iconic film.
The New Year’s Eve special screening of Taiwan-based Malaysian director Tsai Ming-liang’s (蔡明亮) award-winning film at Daan Forest Park’s outdoor stage commenced at 9:45pm and was followed by a countdown to midnight with Tsai, Yang Kuei-mei (楊貴媚) and Lee Kang-sheng (李康生) — the lead actress and actor in the movie.
The event was held in tribute to the two-hour drama, which ends with Yang walking to the park, which was then still under construction, alone, before bursting into tears on a bench by an outdoor stage in the early hours of a New Year’s Day, following a series of unfortunate events.
Photo: Liao Li-hui, Taipei Times
The scene, which lasts nearly seven minutes, has become an iconic moment for many film enthusiasts. Tsai also brought home the Golden Lion — the top prize at the Venice Film Festival in Italy — in 1994.
Before the screening, the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI), the main organizer, held special activities for the attending movie enthusiasts, distributing specially designed tissue packs with the words “do not crycry” on them and handing out sheets of paper for attendees to write down their most tearful moments this year.
Among those who participated in the event was Lucyna, a 25-year-old Polish student majoring in Taiwan Studies and a big fan of Tsai’s films.
“There is no better way to spend New Year’s Eve than watching this film at the very spot that it was shot — like the best scene in the history of cinema,” the National Taiwan Normal University student said.
Having based her undergraduate thesis on Tsai’s films, Lucyna said that she had watched Vive l’amour at least 20 times.
She particularly admired the film’s final crying scene, which she described as having “so many layers.”
“I wish movies were like that nowadays... Just speaking about it makes me so excited to see it again,” she added.
Yun Chen (陳婕云), an 18-year-old Taiwanese university student and a film lover, expressed her admiration for the film’s long takes, which she described as “conveying a sense of urban desolation and emptiness.”
“I think it’s incredibly fitting to use it [as a backdrop] for crying,” she said, adding that the pressures of being a university student in Taiwan often leave her overwhelmed, which might bring her to tears by the end of the screening.
As for her new year’s wish, Chen said she hopes to secure tickets to upcoming film festivals, particularly the Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival, which she eagerly looks forward to.
Although “cry” was the theme of the event, the audience frequently burst into laughter during the film’s lighter moments, with many seated on the grass surrounding the stage, as the seats closer to the stage were completely full.
The TFAI said that the event held “considerable significance” as last year marked the 30th anniversary of Vive l’amour and the completion of the park.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY: From Nov. 10, tickets with reserved seats would only be valid for the date, train and route specified on the ticket, THSRC said Starting on Nov. 10, high-speed rail passengers with reserved seats would be required to exchange their tickets to board an earlier train. Passengers with reserved seats on a specific train are currently allowed to board earlier trains on the same day and sit in non-reserved cars, but as this is happening increasingly often, and affecting quality of travel and ticket sales, Taiwan High-Speed Rail Corp (THSRC) announced that it would be canceling the policy on Nov. 10. It is one of several new measures launched by THSRC chairman Shih Che (史哲) to improve the quality of service, it said. The company also said
RSS