Au Revoir Taipei
Starring: Jack Yao Chun-yao, Amber Kuo Tsai-chieh, Joseph Chang Hsiao-chuan, Lawrence Ko Yu-luen Directed by: Arvin Chen Chun-lin Category: IIA (Mandarin, Taiwanese and French)
If ever there were a case for Taipei being a romantic rival of Paris, the feature debut of Chinese-American writer-director Arvin Chen Chun-lin provides ample evidence not only of the city's nighttime allure but of a cinematic talent capable of making 'new waves' on Taiwan's movie scene.
Chen relates a tale of good-humoured sweetness that so deftly steers clear of saccharine excess that the result is not unlike the celluloid equivalent of a Chinese croissant au chocolat.
The playfulness begins with the English and Chinese titles. The former refers to the French dilemma of protagonist Kai (Jack Yao), forlorn and increasingly distraught over his girlfriend in Paris. The Chinese moniker, literally 'one page of Taipei' - whose Mandarin pronunciation sounds like 'one night in Taipei' - alludes to the nocturnal and literary qualities of a narrative that unfolds for the most part during a single night with a bookstore figuring prominently among its locales.
It is here that Kai surreptitiously studies French while being covertly admired by store employee Susie (Amber Kuo, below with Yao). But this is no simple romance, and the film's first third imparts an impression of intersecting subplots: Kai's life at the noodle shop run by his parents (Jack Kao Jie and Liu Jui-chi); his friendship with ex-classmate now convenience store clerk Gao (Paul Chiang Kang-che); their encounters with a crafty real estate agent (Lawrence Ko) intent on robbing his gangster uncle (Frankie Gao Ling-feng); and an amorous cop (Joseph Chang) whose affairs interfere with a case that will eventually involve most of the characters.
By mid-film the mosaic has come into sharp focus and one is increasingly delighted with the efficacy with which Kai's adventure blossoms forth. The director hits all the right notes, transforming nighttime Taipei into a wonderland where bad guys aren't all that evil and young innocents can be cute but not cutesy.