Tonight was the first day of the annual Asian Pacific Film Festival held at the Directors' Guild Association in Los Angeles. As part of the digital histories program, Steve invited me to come and even got tickets for Cathy and I to go together. At first I was quite hesitant because I wanted to spend more time at home with the phamily but since he went through all the trouble, there was no way I could pass it up. Plus deep down, the nerd in me wanted to go watch underground films again. There's something about the general, popular films that just don't cut it.
We arrived in the gorgeous lobby and meet up with some of the fine ladies from the DisKovery Center, including Jeanie (Steve's mother) and Michi (my favorite senior). Jeanie was gracious enough to give us some bao for dinner and we happily munched away as I scoped out potential suitors for dear Cathy. We got as far as the "cool yet sophisticated" polished guy in white blazer and trucker hat, the dreadlocks man, and Mr. Beret with the wiry hair. After a couple of good laughs, Steve came out from the V.I.P room and we started chatting up about him being a "closet" starstruck by one of the actresses from China. Using Cathy's term, anorexic, tanned, Asian Barbie. The fact that she kept fiddling with her super short dress and her boobs looked like they were ready to make the jump for it was unnerving and drew everyone's attention. Oh and the fact that she sparkled from head to toe didn't help either.
Our film for tonight was "Au Revoi Taipei" directed by Arvin Chen. It was a completely playful, and as Mr. Chen stated himself, "silly" film. I loved it.
"Au Revoir" opens up with a montage of the city of Taipei at night. It's the standard introduction of the setting from wide city shot, to medium shots of every day life and the bustle of the citizens. Then camera catches a couple on the street; the girl gets into a taxi cab to leave for Paris and as she drives away, the boyfriend watches her leave. This boy, Lai, is the center crux of the movie but not the main character. Later on we see him go through a daily routine of working at his parent's restaurant, riding the streets of Taipei, reading a French language book in the bookstore, and ending with a phone call to his beloved asking her to contact him again. Gradually, his daily routine is added on with other characters such as his friend Gao, the "Uncle Bao" who frequently eats at the restaurant, Bao's nephew and his orange suited mobsters, and even a pair of cops. One day out of heartbreak, Lai decides to fly to Paris and win back the love of his girlfriend. He agrees to make a small delivery for Uncle Bao in exchange for the money to buy a plane ticket. During his little adventure, audiences discover the two cops are after Bao after finding crucial evidence of smuggling. Bao's nephew, Hong, a street cad who looks for cheap thrills and exciting heists, over hears his uncle's business arrangement with Lai and decides to take the loot for himself.
Soon all the characters become intertwined in a big chase after the secret package that Lai is carrying, including an innocent bookstore worker Susie, who has a deep crush for Lai but is unable to come to terms with her love. The adventures is filled with funny lines from Lai's amusingly monotone friend, Gao, and silly tactics by Lai and Susie in the attempt to escape the cops. And very much like the director stated at the start of the film, it ends on a silly note. Each character has their own ending and thus conclusion to their romanticism but the most entertaining section is of Lai and Susie doing the lindy hop inside the bookstore, surrounded by other customers also doing the lindy hop. =] Very appropriate Mr. Chen.
The central theme of this movie was romanticism. Chen starts off with Lai's romance with his girlfriend and Paris because love is classically tied in with romanticism. The sheer idea of being in Paris and engaging in the atmosphere of lovers is the quintessential image of love's romance. There is also a bit of nativity in Lai's romance; his dream of holding on to a long distance relationship, his studying of French so he can talk to his girlfriend and someday eventually join her. When he encounters Susie at the book store and tells her his plan, she replies with "that's very romantic". He responds with "is it?" And then she says "well doesn't your girlfriend think so?" Lai's response afterwards does not show much confidence in knowing if his girlfriend does think his education in French is romantic.
Even after the girlfriend breaks it off with Lai, he comes up with the crazy notion of wanting to fly to Paris and win her love back. This is a clear sign that his romantic notions of their relationship will not yield despite the break off. His parents tell him that it's a silly idea and this is probably for the best. He should be finding a job as oppose to flying to Paris but he refuses to listen. Here, Chen clearly separates Lai from the "general society" of his parents' sense of reality; forget spending money for love and get a job that has security. As Lai pursues help from his "Uncle Bao", he becomes enlisted in a small delivery in exchange for the money for Paris.
Chen is using Lai as a the boat to drive the narrative forward, but also catch other characters' stories in its net. As Lai is discussing the business deal with Uncle Bao, Hong overhears their conversation and immediately decides to take the package for himself. Hong is a real estate agent who sells apartment housing as a living, courtesy of his uncle. However by night, Hong and his hooligan of ruffians do petty robberies such as the mini mart. After over hearing this deal, Hong becomes obsessed at the prospects of performing a great heist. This is his romanticism. Chen showcases this through Hong's actions and behavior. He sends out his ruffians to retrieve the package, despite their lack of common sense and skill. And even equips one of them with a gun. Later on, after the ruffians have kidnapped Gao instead of Lai with hope that they can an exchange, we see Hong discussing relationship issues with Gao and giving him advice on how to woe his co-worker Peach. Then when he calls Lai to do the exchange, he has stumbles on his words in finding a location to do the swap as well as verbally threatening to kill Gao and throw his body into the river but then shaking his head to Gao to reassure him that it is a lie. Twice. Also later on we find out the gun is fake.
Uncle Bao's character provides an interesting twist to the romantic notions. As an older gentlemen who creates the appearance of being a crook, he still relishes in the romance of his former days. His romanticism is captured in the mafia dramas that he watches in every scene that he's not talking to someone else. These dramas are overdramatic with terrible acting and cliche plots, and yet Bao finds amusement every time. Another character who indulges in dramatic romance is the lady innkeeper at the "palace" sex hotel. We catch a quick snippet of her watching the love scene between two characters who are swearing their eternal vows in the middle of a fight. But then when Lai and Susie enter in the hotel, she barely acknowledges then and says : "for a quickie, I'll give you 500 but for the whole night it'll be 800". A very crude line about sex, depraved of all romance and passion and measured only in the amount of time it can last. But in reality, that's what the sex hotel is for and what most of the customers come seeking.
The cop's romanticism is divided between being a high chase pursuit cop and having a loving relationship. Both shatter as they collide into one another. The cop is so obsessed with being the top notch cop and having exciting pursuits that he allows his love life to crumble. Until the day his girlfriend decides to walk away from the relationship and brings his romance to an end. He does desperately try to pursue her but only finds rejection and eventually dissatisfaction with his job as well when he discovers his pursuit was for a framed photo.
Gao in my opinion is the most interesting character because of his lack of romanticism. As Cathy pinpointed, Gao has the same monotone attitude as Khao from our own family. He's tall, awkward, seems to lack personality and is extremely funny. He is about to be drafted and wants to ask his co-worker Peach out. However, he becomes nervous around her and is unable to ever the get the words out. In every scenario with the characters however, he both plays to their romances and demises it. For example, when at the open eatery with Lai and Susie, he "conveniently" slips away to allow the two to be alone, thus playing to Susie's fantasy of being with Lai. But when kidnapped by the orange suited hooligans, he interrupts their "scheming" by stating: "Oh you can drop me off here". As well as suggesting good dumpling places and beating them at majong. He eventually develops his own romance which in the end is simply being able to say "see you tomorrow" to Peach and have it be true.
Scenery, music and language ( connects the characters)
