The Village of No Return (2017)

It is an unusual day for the remote and isolated Desire Village. A mysterious Taoist priest brings a magical equipment that can erase one's memory. Since then, all the villagers have ... See full summary »

Director:

Yu-Hsun Chen

Writers:

Yaosheng Chang, Yu-Hsun Chen

Stars:

Qi Shu, Qianyuan Wang, Hsiao-chuan Chang

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Qi Shu	...	Autumn
Qianyuan Wang	...	Fortune Tien
Hsiao-chuan Chang	...	Master Wan
Mei-Hsiu Lin	...	Dark Cloud
Tony Yo-ning Yang	...	Dean Wang
Eric Tsang	...	Rock Peeler
Pao-Ming Ku	...	Chief
Yu-Chieh Cheng	...	Autumn's father
Wei-min Ying	...	Villain
Chieh-Hui Hsu	...	Golden Lin
You Wu	...	Scholar Lee
Niuniu Fang Wang	...	Spring
Shao-Huai Chang	...	Dr. Liu
Zan Ban	...	Big Pie
Jag Huang	...	Blue Cloud (as Jian-Wei Huang)

Storyline

It is an unusual day for the remote and isolated Desire Village. A mysterious Taoist priest brings a magical equipment that can erase one's memory. Since then, all the villagers have forgotten their past, living "happily ever after", while the dangerous plot behind their back is just about to be unveiled.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The crew grew corn themselves to be used in the filming.

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Crazy Credits

The bandits play beat box and acapella on the mountain in the ending credit.

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Soundtracks

Song of An Ordinary Man
Lyrics & Composed by Tsung-Sheng Lee
Produced by Mayday
Co-Produced by Yi-Lin Lin
Arranged by Mayday & Yi-Lin Lin
Electric Guitar by Shang-Yi Wen & Chin-Hang Shih
Guitar by Yi-Lin Lin
Bass by Matthew Yen-Shen Tsai
Midi by Yi-Lin Lin & Ashin
Harmony Composed by Cola Kai
Performed by Ashin & Jam Hsiao
[Ending Theme]

User Reviews

Quirky, strange, and what was that there all about?

This is one of the strangest, most unique, quirky, unusual... well, you get the idea.

I won't spoil a second of it, because there is no telling what tiny reveal might ruin the movie for someone. I give it 6 stars because it has a unique story and holds interest all the way through, but unfortunately has a rather weak ending.

The main actress was beautiful and talented and in my opinion the real saving grace of the film. She did very well in all aspects of the personality shifts they put her through. For me she brought the only actual comedic laugh in the whole film.

The rest of the cast was just nuts. I'm sure they had a lot of fun making this. The directing was excellent considering the context of the story. This is dark humor, fairly well-done. If not for the anti-climactic ending I could have rated it higher.

The real problem with the film is that it really says nothing. It is cohesive, holds the storyline most of the way through, and makes sense (kinda). It's just that it does't really have much to say about anything. It's understood that not every film has to teach a lesson or even have a point. It's just that one keeps expecting this whole convoluted story to wind up somewhere... and it just doesn't. About all one can say in the end is "Well, that was certainly strange".

Worth watching? Honestly, I can't really say... and that pretty much sums it up.

Details

Official Sites:

Facebook

Country:

Taiwan China

Language:

Mandarin

Release Date:

26 January 2017 (Taiwan)

Also Known As:

Ngôi Làng Hạnh Phúc

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,307,393

Company Credits

Production Co:

1 Production Film, Mandarin Vision, In Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Atmos (Dolby Atmos+Vision) DTS:X (downmixed) D-Cinema 48kHz 5.1 (Dolby Surround 5.1) (downmixed)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1