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Ethan Ruan (left) and Regina Wan Qian.
Opinion
Get Reel
by Yvonne Teh
Get Reel
by Yvonne Teh

Film review: Paradise In Service is a coming-of-age story in a military brothel

Writer-director-producer Doze Niu Chen-zer's Paradise in Service brings to light something considered an open secret in certain circles: that from 1951 up until 1990, the Taiwanese military operated brothels for the use of their men.

Yvonne Teh
PARADISE IN SERVICE
Starring: Ethan Ruan Ching-tien, Chen Jianbin, Regina Wan Qian
Director: Doze Niu Chen-zer
Category: IIB (Putonghua and Taiwanese)

Writer-director-producer Doze Niu Chen-zer's brings to light something considered an open secret in certain circles: that from 1951 up until 1990, the Taiwanese military operated brothels for the use of their men.

Collectively designated as Unit 831 (and given the motto of "Servicing the Armed Forces, Boosting Morale"), these establishments were mostly situated on outlying islands looked upon as the first line of defence against the Communist Chinese.

The Kinmen (aka Quemoy) branch was nicknamed "military paradise", and this provides the colourful backdrop for a young man's coming of age while serving in the Taiwanese military between 1969 and 1972.

Appearing in his third film directed by Niu (after 2010's and 2012's ), Ethan Ruan Ching-tien once again delivers a strong performance. This time he plays Pao, an army conscript from southern Taiwan who's selected shortly after arriving on Kinmen to be a part of the elite Sea Dragons amphibious force by its tough senior NCO, sergeant major Zhang (mainland actor Cheng Jianbin).

But after the soldier's less than stellar swimming abilities are exposed during training, Pao — who is morally upright and admits to still being a virgin — is redeployed to Unit 831, where his duties include helping to maintain order in the brothel and keeping the prostitutes' rooms clean.

CARRY ON REGARDLESS: Doze Niu's film is set in a military brothel.

At Unit 831, Pao gets to know its denizens and customers well and gets caught up in their personal dramas. Among the former is Nini (Regina Wan Qian), a beautiful woman who is using her body to cut down her jail time; chief among the latter is the Sea Dragons' sergeant major Zhang, who dreams of a future with alluring sex worker Jiao (Ivy Chen Yi-han) while pining for his beloved mother, left behind in mainland China.

Dedicated to the director's grandfather and father, is not as damning as one might expect with regards to the military brothels.

While the film does show a bespectacled conscript (Wang Po-chieh) subjected to terrible bullying by his fellow soldiers, and his prostitute lover being physically abused by a customer, it also features a number of people who are able to deal with life's absurdities.

The lack of moralising may irk some viewers, but it actually works in the film's favour as it makes some of the story surprisingly unpredictable. The period drama's script contains some poignant plot and character details, such as a key individual's liking for dumplings because they evoke bittersweet memories of his parents.

Technically polished, the film also benefits from the services of ace cinematographer Charlie Lam Chi-kin, and auteur Hou Hsiao-hsien, who was on board as editing director and co-producer.

 

 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Babesin arms
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