Taipei Exchanges (2010)

Recommended

Taiwan

Feature Film

Original Title: 第36個故事

Writer/Director: Hsiao Ya-chuan

Cinematographer: Lin Tse-chung

Composers: Ho Zhi-Jian, Summer Lei

Cast: Kwai Lun-mei, Lin Zaizai, Chang Han, Kosuke Atari, Ma Yuli

Whimsical, delicate, and generally quite lovely, Hsiao’s gentle second feature depicts a year in the life of a pair of young sisters from Taipei, following the progress of their first joint business venture, an eccentric coffee shop, which has the gimmick of lining its walls with odd bits of bric-a-brac that can be exchanged for similar items or those of a more ephemeral nature, as they gradually discover who they are and where their dreams lie. Iain.Stott

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Three Times (2005)

Recommended

Taiwan/France

Feature Film

Original Title: 最好的時光

Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien

Writers: Chu T'ien-wen, Hou Hsiao-hsien

Cinematographer: Mark Lee Ping Bin

Cast: Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Lee Pei-Hsuan

Hou’s ravishingly photographed and strongly acted film relates three love stories featuring the same protagonists from three different years: the first, set in 1966 against a backdrop of smoky snooker halls, is a delightfully gentle and romantic boy-meets-girl tale; the second, set against the Wuchang Uprising of 1911, depicts a sort-of-romance between a courtesan and a philanthropic client; and the final part, set in present day Taipei, portrays a torrid affair between a photographer and a singer. Iain.Stott

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