Ting che (2008)

On Mother's Day in Taipei, Chen Mo makes a date for dinner with his wife, hoping to bring their estranged relationship back together. While buying a cake on his way home, a car unexpectedly... See full summary »

Director:

Mong-Hong Chung

Writer:

Mong-Hong Chung (screenplay)

Stars:

Chen Chang, Lun-Mei Kwei, Leon Dai

7 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Chen Chang	...	Chen Mo
Lun-Mei Kwei	...	Wife
Leon Dai	...	Pimp
Chapman To	...	Tailor
Jack Kao	...	Barber
Peggy Tseng	...	Hooker
Tien-Yung Hsu	...	Nini's Grandfather
Mei-Yao Chang	...	Nini's Grandmother
Shih-Chieh King
Tsung-Hua To
Li-Yin Yang	...	Bakery Boss
Kung-Wei Lu	...	Taxi Driver
Na-Dou Lin
Hsiao-Kuo Chia
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Helena Hsu	...	Prostitute

Storyline

On Mother's Day in Taipei, Chen Mo makes a date for dinner with his wife, hoping to bring their estranged relationship back together. While buying a cake on his way home, a car unexpectedly double parks next to his car, preventing his exit. For the entire night, Chen Mo searches the floors of a nearby apartment building for the owner of the illegally parked car, and encounters a succession of strange events and eccentric characters: an old couple living with their precocious granddaughter who have lost their only son, a one-armed barbershop owner cooking fish head soup, a mainland Chinese prostitute trying to escape her pimp's cruel clutches, and a Hong Kong tailor embroiled in debt and captured by underground loan sharks. After many hardships, Chen Mo finally gets his car out of the parking space, and, with new friends riding beside him, advances toward a new horizon in life.

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Plot Keywords:

reading a letter | taipei taiwan | taxicab | tailor | prostitute | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France]

Country:

Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

28 November 2008 (Taiwan)

Also Known As:

Parking

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cream Film Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

Every Building Has It's Stories

Actually this film was filmed in Taiwan, not China. And just to rebut a point made by the previous reviewer, there are many films that come out of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan that are not Kung Fu films (for example all the films made by the great Taiwanese director Edward Yang).

What's good about this film is that it shows us that in any given building or city section, there's a wealth of interesting people and stories to be heard. The interconnection of these different lives seen through the perspective of Chang Chen's character (and here I agree with the previous reviewer) gives us a microcosm of life, particularly of the lower echelon of society that are trying to make ends meet, in Taipei.

Also the naturalistic acting by the characters make it all the more believable even in the face of some of the ridiculous situations that arise. A good film, gets my recommendation.