Chen Chang

  • Cheng-sheng Lin – Ai ni ai wo AKA Betelnut Beauty (2001)

    Cheng-sheng Lin2001-2010AsianDramaTaiwan

    Betelnut Beauty is the english for 槟榔西施 (bīnláng xīshī). It refers to women selling betel nuts and cigarettes along the roads in Taiwan.
    The betelnut beauty is usually half naked, waiting for customers in a small glass-fronted kiosk. It’s a very common sight in Taiwan.
    Betel nuts (binlang in chinese) is popular among a certain population (truck drivers, taxi drivers, construction workers…). You chew it, spit the red juice and it makes you somehow stoned.

    This film is, in my opinion, a very average drama, not the best film from director Cheng-sheng Lin. But its background shows a realistic image of Taipei’s street life.Read More »

  • Ki-duk Kim – Soom AKA Breath (2007)

    2001-2010AsianDramaKi-duk KimSouth Korea

    Quote:
    After finding her husband’s infidelity, YEON absent-mindedly heads for the prison where condemned criminal JIN is confined. Although she doesn’t know him, repeated news of his suicide attempts on TV had subconsciously grown in her mind. Their first meeting is as awkward as it can get. YEON treats JIN like an old friend whereas JIN doesn’t open up so easily. To JIN’s surprise, YEON comes back for the interview again and again, with the decorated interview room like sping, summer and fall. YEON sings him seasonal tunes in dresses of that season. JIN gradually accepts YEON’s efforts and opens up to her. One day, her husband witnesses the intimacy between YEON and JIN and tries to separate them. They can’t see each other again while the limited time for JIN is ticking away. But the two are already attached to each other more than her husband assumed — more than life and death.

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  • Edward Yang – Mahjong aka Couples (1996)

    1991-2000ComedyCrimeEdward YangTaiwan

    Review:
    Mahjong (1996) is in many ways Yang’s greatest Satire, but has, at the same time, the beating pulse of a real dramatic story. In plays on the perception of Taiwan by foreign entities, urban locales, love, father/son relationships, and of course, themes of business & greed that Yang most vehemently loathes. The story is told through a variety of different viewpoints, but we are centered on a small gang of friends/hustlers, apparently led by Red Fish (Tang Congsheng), and consisting of Luen-Luen (Ke Yulun), a gentle-hearted translator, Hong Kong (Chen Chang of Crouching Tiger fame), a ladies man who is able to charm his way into any woman’s pants, and Little Buddha (the same actor who played “Cat” in Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day), a fake Feng-Shui expert who is used in the gang’s various scams. Read More »

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