Starring: Alan Ko You-lun, Alien Huang Hong-sheng, Chen Po-cheng
Directed by: Fung Kai
Category: IIA (Taiwanese and Mandarin)
An abundance of local colour almost compensates for trite scripting in this look at the personal and professional travails of a Din Tao troupe.
For the uninitiated - a condition which director Fung Kai does his utmost to cure - Din Tao is a type of Taiwanese folk performance originally intended as spiritual temple fare. But how times have changed. In an effort to keep the art relevant for a more urbanised and Westernised youth culture, today's Din Tao incorporates the latest instrumental and dance trends.
It is Din Tao's generational rift that is the focus of the story co-authored by the director, a television veteran making his big-screen debut. Based on the real-life experiences of the Jyou-Tian Folk Drum and Acrobatic Troupe, a Taichung group acclaimed within Taiwan and around the globe, the drama centres on the antagonism between a traditional father and his free-spirited son.
The movie opens with would-be rock star A-Tai (Alan Ko You-lun) reluctantly deferring his dreams of American fame to re-enter the ragtag company headed by his dad, known as Uncle Da (Chen Po-cheng, above right with Ko).
Making matters more difficult is Da's taciturn personality, antagonising not only A-Tai but also instigating a demoralising rivalry with a flashier ensemble headed by Wu Cheng (Liao Chun), Da's childhood friend and fellow-apprentice under the same Din Tao master.