Hái-kak chhit-ho (2008)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Te-Sheng Wei

Writer:

Te-Sheng Wei (scenario)

Release Date:

22 August 2008 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Aga, a band singer, returns to Hengchun with frustration. Tomoko is a Japanese model assigned to organize...

Plot Keywords:

Rebel | Local Hero | Rainbow | Love | Rock Star

Awards:

10 wins

Cast

Van	...	Aga
Chie Tanaka	...	Tomoko
Min-Hsiung	...	Rauma
Wei-min Ying	...	Frog (as Wei-Min Ying)
Nien-Hsien Ma	...	Malasun
Johnny Chung-Jen Lin	...	Old Mao (as Johnny C.J. Lin)
Joanne	...	Dada
Shino Lin	...	Mingchu
Ju-Lung Ma	...	Aga's Stepfather
Bjanav Zenror	...	Olalan - Rauma's Father
Hsiao-Lan Pei	...	Aga's Mother
Kuei Chang	...	Hotel Manager
Kousuke Atari	...	Teacher / Kousuke Atari
Wen-Yin Liang	...	Young Koshima Tomoko
Yi-Hsuan Kuo	...	Dada's double

Also Known As:

Cape No. 7 (International: English title)
Hai jiao ci hao (Taiwan) (alternative transliteration)

Runtime:

Taiwan:129 min

Country:

Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin | Taiwanese | Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Taiwan:GP | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (edited version) | Hong Kong:IIA | Japan:G

Filming Locations:

Hengchun, Ping-tung, Taiwan

Company:

ARS Film Production

Trivia:

The film represented Taiwan to compete in the Best Foreign Film category of the Oscar Academy Award 2009, but unfortunately it was not nominated.

If you're not Taiwanese you might not like it...

This movie really captures the type of local people who live in the Southern parts of Taiwan. The true local people, the type who have never left their hometown and the type who have never adapted with the times. For a Taiwanese person this movie will be hilarious, it truly shows the older generation characters are being the way most of elders are. The actual foul language in Taiwanese dialect can never really be understood unless you realise how bad these words are, and the true meaning of said words and phrases.

Some would say this is a romantic comedy, for me it was more of just a comedy. The romance seemed little and not massively important to the story. For me the story was about a group of people coming together to create a band which no one would've ever thought possible, not the locals and not even the band members themselves. The romance was a side part, it wasn't enough to make you feel sorry for the characters or enough to make you want them to be together.

In Taiwan this is the biggest movie ever, well it certainly seems that way. The Taiwanese rant and rave about it like its the greatest thing since sliced bread, there might be many reasons why... Because it truly captures some of the Taiwanese elders perfectly, or perhaps because Taiwan makes very few movies. And the other only big movies made in Taiwan are of a sexual nature (Tsai Ming-liang).

Overall I did enjoy this movie but I feel without my knowledge of Mandarin language and Taiwanese Dialect, along with my experience of living in Taiwan for a number of years I wouldn't have enjoyed this movie as much. Without a true understanding of the setting there's no way I would've found even half of the jokes amusing.

I think if you know about Taiwanese culture, or if you've visited Taiwan you'll enjoy this movie. But if you don't have such knowledge or experiences you might want to pass this movie by as it won't be enough to entertain you for 2+hours.