Film

Random

Film Review: Tenet

·February 16, 2021·18 min read

In Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, he used a metaphor to describe how a Prince should look at political situations: “For just as those who sketch landscapes place themselves down in the plain to consider the nature of mountains and high places to consider the nature of low places place themselves high atop mountains…” Read More

ㄍㄧㄤ片評論：阿比阿弟尋歌大冒險

Chinese Film

·January 7, 2021·1 min read

有時，我會隨意查看電影時刻表，好知道有哪些電影可觀賞。令我驚訝的是，一部美國邪典電影進入了台灣的電影院。《阿比阿弟尋歌大冒險》是《阿比阿弟大冒險》系列的第三部，其中第一部於 1989 年製作，第二部電影是 1991 年。電影製片人過了將近 30 年的時間製作了第三部電影《阿比阿弟尋歌大冒險》。《阿比阿弟》絕對不是什麼嚴肅電影，但在文化上還算是有其重要性的，美國偉大的導演之一亞歷山大·潘恩也可算是這部電影的影迷，因為在佩恩的電影《選舉》（Election) 中，也能找到非常類似基努·李維（阿弟）的角色。原版的《阿比阿弟》電影也被滾石(Rolling Stone）和爛番茄（Rotten Tomatoes）列為史上前十大經典「ㄍㄧㄤ片」（Stoner Film 譯注：此種片意指適合抽大麻之後看的電影）之一。有趣的是，就一部經典的ㄍㄧㄤ片電影系列來說，因為阿比阿弟角色本身並沒有抽大麻，電影也沒有顯示出任何毒品使用。但是，阿比和阿弟的角色卻是基於抽過大麻後的設定。在前兩部電影中，傻笨但善良的二人穿越時空拯救世界。而時間指導人魯弗斯（Rufus），則是最出色但已逝的美國喜劇演員喬治·卡林（George Carlin）。 Read More

Review: A First Farewell (第一次的離別)

English Film

·March 2, 2021·4 min read

A First Farewell is a remarkable film by first-time director Wang Lina. The film is shot in Wang’s hometown of Shaya, Wang being a Han director that grew up in Xinjiang Read More

電影評論：天能

Chinese Film

·December 17, 2020·1 min read

在尼科洛·馬基雅維里的《君主論》(Niccolo Machiavelli‘s The Prince)中，他用一個比喻來形容君主應該如何看待政治局勢：「正如那些繪風景畫的人們，為了考察山巒和高地的性質便側身於平原，而為了考察平原便高踞山頂一樣……」像馬基雅維里描述中理想的畫家一樣，克里斯托弗·諾蘭(Christopher Nolan)，在《黑暗騎士》中徹底研究了他的題材，並意味這主軸在《天能》延續。在這裡，我想說這兩部電影精神是西方政治哲學動態為基礎。如果仔細閱讀，這兩部電影將其政治背景聯繫起來，可以說《天能》是《黑暗騎士》的「政治續集」。 Read More

Queer Desire and Death

Film

·April 8, 2021·3 min read

In the hands of a lesser director, Wrath of Desire would not be the sum of its parts. In fact, the film would be something of a train wreck. However, in Zero Chou’s capable hands, Wrath of Desire is not only a stylistically distinctive film, but one which is thought-provoking. The film is one of six about LGBTQ-related issues by Chou, which she plans to shoot in East Asian cities. Chou is one of Taiwan’s best-known contemporary queer film directors Read More

Review: A Sun (陽光普照)

English Film

·December 22, 2020·4 min read

Despite its release last year to much domestic acclaim, winning best film in 2019’s Golden Horse Awards, A Sun has received a new wave of critical attention internationally after making Variety’s list of best films of the year last month Read More

Reflecting on the Critical Success of Your Name Engraved Herein (刻在你心底的名字)

English Film

·December 29, 2020·19 min read

Part one of a two-part conversation on the critical success of Your Name Engraved Herein Read More

電影評論：十二夜 2

Chinese Film

·December 7, 2020·1 min read

2013 年出品的紀錄片《十二夜》是一部探討動物收容所的紀錄片，影片中有許多收容所過去發生的悲慘景象，可能是很多人從未聽說過但最具影響力的台灣倡議紀錄片之一。 Read More

Haunted by the Ghosts of Taiwan’s Colonial Past

English Film

·April 6, 2021·4 min read

Green Grass, Pale Fire follows three Taiwanese runaway miners in 1935 who are on the run from the Japanese army. Stranded in the jungles of Iriomote Island, Okinawa prefecture, after having escaped from the infamous “Green Jail” coal mine, the three hope to find a way home by boat. Given this setting, the short film explores Taiwan’s Japanese colonial period, which lasted from 1895 to 1945 Read More

Zombies in the Taiwanese Legislature?

Film

·March 18, 2021·4 min read

Get the Hell Out is an absurdist zombie comedy that starts out well enough Read More

Review: Taiwanese Shakespeare Adaptation “As We Like It” Subverts Traditional Theatrical Gender-Bending

Film

·March 11, 2021·5 min read

With its all-woman cast, Taiwanese movie “As We Like It” critiques the exclusion of women in Shakespearean theatre and asks audiences to consider life beyond a gender binary Read More

A Forgotten Period in Taiwanese History and Its Last Witness

Film

·March 24, 2021·4 min read

Green Jail is a documentary that chronicles the twilight days of Hashima Yoshiko, the last living Taiwanese resident of Iriomote Island, the second-largest island of Okinawa Prefecture Read More