藝文新聞

休士頓美術館 MFAH 將於12月初放映台灣電影

(11/18/2011)

SPOTLIGHT ON WORLD CINEMA: TAIWAN

One weekend only: Special thanks to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston (John Y. C. Chi, Director, Press Division) and MFAH film committee member Dr. Karen Fang for programming advice. Continuing the success of Cape No. 7 – which screened at the MFAH in July 2009 – and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China on Taiwan, these three new films demonstrate the energy and reinvention of the contemporary era Taiwanese film.

* Juliets (Zhu li ye) (Directed by Chen Yu-Hsun, Hou Chi-jan, and Shen Ko-shang , Taiwan, 2010, 106 min., in Mandarin with English subtitles)

One screening only: Friday, December 2, 7 p.m. Three filmmakers transport Shakespeare’s most famous heroine in different, equally modern directions. The stories complement each other nicely, from Hou Chi-jan’s bittersweet period tale of betrayals and misunderstandings to Shen Ko-shang’s time-shifting tale of heartbreak to Chen Yu-hsun’s contemporary gay farce.

* Tears (Yan lei) (Directed by Cheng Wen-Tang, Taiwan, 2009, 111 min., in Min Nan with English subtitles)

One screening only: Saturday, December 3, 7 p.m. An engrossing character study of a one-time bad cop (Tsai Chen-Nan) who seeks redemption by helping apparently random citizens and taking on an assignment involving the overdose death of a girl. But his zeal and good conscience are confronted by the karma of his past deeds and as the story unfolds, the viewer learns that nothing happens by accident.

* The Fourth Portrait (Di si zhang hua) (Directed by Chung Mong-hong, Taiwan, 2010, 105 min., in Mandarin and Hokkien with English subtitles)

One screening only: Sunday, December 4, 6 p.m. In an interesting detour from 2008’s delightfully quirky Parking, Chung Mong-hong’s second feature is the bittersweet study of ten-year-old Xiang. In the tradition of Empire of the Sun and The 400 Blows, Xiang faces a lonely future after his father dies, until his estranged mother unexpectedly shows up at the orphanage. But living with his mother and his brutal stepfather, Xiang has a fragile home environment at best. The perceptive and inquisitive boy finds comfort in drawing, which allows him to express his innermost thoughts. The Fourth Portrait paints a picture of the life of a young boy struggling to find his place in a world of poverty and domestic violence.

( 回首頁 Houston eWIND )

.