Doze Niu Cheng-Tse
Set in the island Kinmen, often seen as the most dangerous military base because it’s geographically close to China, "Paradise in Service" follows the adventure of a boy who serves his military service in Unit 831 from 1969 to 1972, in preparation for a war that could erupt anytime. Through an unlucky lottery draw result, Pao, a twenty-something young man from Southern Taiwan has to serve the military in the remote and perilous Kinmen. Moreover, he is assigned to the Sea Dragon (ARB), a unit noted for the toughest physical training. It never occurs to Pao, however, that the greatest challenge in his military service lies not in the Sea Dragon but in Unit 831, a special task he is later appointed to… In this peculiar assignment, Pao vows to keep his virginity against all odds.
Taipei 24H divides 24 hours in Taipei into 8 shorts. It opens with Cheng Fen-fen's upbeat and comedic "Share the Morning", and ends with Lee Kang-sheng running the final leg of this relay with "Remembrance" at 4am. Well-known director Tsai Ming-liang makes a rare appearance visiting a late night coffee shop. Taipei 24H is a contemporary urban chronicle of a city rarely at sleep.
Taipei. A voice off-camera looks back ten years to 2000, when Vicky was in an on-again off-again relationship with Hao-Hao...
1945-1947, Taiwan. A teenage couple were deeply in love despite objections from the girl’s family. Their tragic story is played out in travelling troupes, tea-houses and western-style cafes, with the backdrop of Japanese occupation and the 28 February Incident.
Choong's title is secret agent, but in reality, his duties are limited to ferrying and running errands for Hong Kong agents when they come to Taiwan - hardly the stuff of "Mission Impossible". Until one day, when an assignment to help two Hong Kong police officers find a missing girl turns into a wild goose chase for $30 million of loot involving Hong Kong top assassins and Taiwan's most powerful triads.
The Personals is a movie for anyone who hasn't yet found what they're looking for or who remembers how tough it can be to find it. Rene Liu plays an eye doctor who's become disaffected with her present life and is craving something more – namely love and marriage. She's attractive, has a good job, and a decent apartment. Up until now she has done everything she's supposed to do, but it just hasn't worked for her. She's still alone. Now, she decides to take the extreme measure of advertising for a husband in the personals. The search leads her down the slippery slope of the modern dating scene whose universal quirkiness transcends the boundaries of all industrialized societies.
Xia-dou and Ji-dan left their families and friends in Thief Village to sit in a dungeon as subsitute prisoners in exchange for favor from the local law enforcer. The warden, knowing they are good in physical skills, sent them on a side job. The kids broke in a heavily guarded examination ground, swapped two exam papers for the client and stole a pair of golden eyes from a big lion chop for themselves. The missing gold detoured the detective's trail to the master schemer. As the conspiracy unfolded, the governor decided to eradicate the whole village to cover up his involvement with the master schemer. Life in Thief Village has never been easy. But fate never mocked them so hard. It turned out that the gold they so cherished was fake. So were many other things they believed in. In despair, Xia-dou's Great grandfather, the 125-year old personage called upon the sky and recevied a most fantastic answer.
"Door Latch" and his friend followed the KMT army and moved to Taiwan in 1949. They conceal their real name and get many trials and afflictions to adapt the circumstances in that special situation. Yueh-Shiang is a classic traditional woman from China country. For requiting the graciousness of being saved by Door Latch, she becomes Door Latch's wife. She suffers hardship to raise and teach their children without any complains. Door Latch wasn't well educated and can hardly read. However, he uses Yueh-Shiang's late husband's name and diploma to get himself a job. Even though there are a lot of embarrassing situations and he suffers many difficulties, Door Latch survives. Door Latch also looks after his old pal Lee Der-Sherng when Lee loses his mind. However, the KMT government released the restriction to visit Mainland China. They are able to visit their parents and relatives there. Their son finds "their" parents, but bigger secrets will unfold.
A farming village is undergoing change. Some of the young people want to live in the city, while others stay behind and try to help the older residents adjust to a new scheme of growing flowers to sell at market instead of rice.
Growing Up was the film that "first attracted broad critical and popular attention to the movement" known as New Taiwan Cinema. It "established some of the movement's key stylistic approaches and narrative concerns, with its subdued manner in relating the story of an adolescent boy grappling with everyday pangs amid Taiwan's fraught provincial context."
Ah-Ching and his friends have just finished school in their island fishing village, and now spend most of their time drinking and fighting. Three of them decide to go to the port city of Kaohsiung to look for work. They find an apartment through relatives, and Ah-Ching is attracted to the girlfriend of a neighbor. There they face the harsh realities of the big city.
