Saturday, June 11, 2005

Taiwanese film director Alex Yang sets romantic comedy
on picturesque college campus location in southern Taiwan

[ "我的逍遙學伴" ] (English title: "My Fair Laddy", cf. "My Fair Lady"))

http://japundit.com/archives/2005/10/26/1403/ [MOVIE TRAILER AVAILABLE HERE]

There's a first time for every ''amateur'' actor

Just by chance, I was recently asked to play a very small role in Alex Yang's new film titled''My Cool Study Partner'', and when I say "very small role," I mean like less than ten seconds of film time, when the movie is finally cut andedited and ready for release. I play the role of a college professor who -- in the very first scene in the film, so don't be lateto the screening, or you will miss my film debut! -- is beinginterviewed by a pretty television reporter, and she asks me:"Professor, what do you think of this new writer on campus?"I am wearing a colorful southern Taiwan-style nightmarket shirt, ablack French beret, and black reading glasses. I say to her, or to thecamera, it depends on the final edit: "Oh, la la, c'est magnifique,c'est tres tres tres bien, c'est un chef d'oeuvre."I go on, still speaking to the pretty TV reporter from ETON-TV: "Youknow, he's the best writeron campus. In this day and age, talent is very important thing, andthis guy's got it!"At that point, I pretend that I don't want to answer any morequestions from the reporter, and I blurt out, to the camera: "C'esttout, c'est fini, a bientot! Sayonara!"[{translation: "That's all, it's finished, see you later, I'm outtahere..." and then switching into Japanese: ...."Goodbye!"]Now to film that scene, it took an hour, we had to do about 20takes, repeating the scene over and over, mainly because forgetful me couldnot remember my three easy lines, and the complicated process ofspeaking French, English and Japanese confused me andcaused me to mis-speak my lines over and over again. Finally, on the lasttake, just before the director was about to fire me and hire a newactor to take my place, I got it right.
"Cut!" yelled the director. "It\'s a take."So I got the job and now I\'mgonna be in the movies. I can\'t wait until the film comes out here inTaiwan: I am sure my role will end up on the cutting room floor,anyway, and you won\'t even see my face in the final cut,but hey, it was fun, it was a lark.Now, about this movie:Alex Yang shot it in Taiwan, on a college campus, and it\'s histhird feature film since "The Trigger" and "Taipei 21". If all goes well, thiswill be his break-out film, bringing him to the attention of aglobal audience both East and West.Titled tentatively in English, "My Fair Laddy," a play-on-words on "MyFair Lady", the movie is being billed as a kind of neurotic comedy, apost-modern take on university life among Taiwan\'s younger generation.Starring an energetic cast of Taiwanese actors from TV, film and stagebackgrounds, the cast also includes a Japanese "racing queen idol,"the model and actress Soma Akane, who has been working in Taiwan forthe past 12 months, learning the language and building up an islandwidefan base. [I met her once during the filming and said "konnichiwa" to her!]The movie is a love story, acomedic, romantic love story: boy meets girl, boy studies with girl,other boys meet girl, problems follow.Written by Yang and his wife, AmyHo, the movie is based on a popular series of Internet novels writtenby Taiwanese bestseller sensation HiYaWu, whose books have alreadybeen translated into Thai and Korean for readers overseas.Come December, viewers in Asia will get a first look at Yang\'sromantic comedy, and if word of mouth is good, this film could travelfar -- globally.And if you watch closely, during the opening momentsof the movie, you will see a funny-looking \'\'college professor\'\' with",1]
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"Cut!" yelled the director. "It's a take."So I got the job and now I'mgonna be in the movies. I can't wait until the film comes out here inTaiwan: I am sure my role will end up on the cutting room floor,anyway, and you won't even see my face in the final cut,but hey, it was fun, it was a lark.Now, about this movie:Alex Yang shot it in Taiwan, on a college campus, and it's histhird feature film since "The Trigger" and "Taipei 21". If all goes well, thiswill be his break-out film, bringing him to the attention of aglobal audience both East and West.Titled tentatively in English, "My Fair Laddy," a play-on-words on "MyFair Lady", the movie is being billed as a kind of neurotic comedy, apost-modern take on university life among Taiwan's younger generation.Starring an energetic cast of Taiwanese actors from TV, film and stagebackgrounds, the cast also includes a Japanese "racing queen idol,"the model and actress Soma Akane, who has been working in Taiwan forthe past 12 months, learning the language and building up an islandwidefan base. [I met her once during the filming and said "konnichiwa" to her!]The movie is a love story, acomedic, romantic love story: boy meets girl, boy studies with girl,other boys meet girl, problems follow.Written by Yang and his wife, AmyHo, the movie is based on a popular series of Internet novels writtenby Taiwanese bestseller sensation HiYaWu, whose books have alreadybeen translated into Thai and Korean for readers overseas.Come December, viewers in Asia will get a first look at Yang'sromantic comedy, and if word of mouth is good, this film could travelfar -- globally.And if you watch closely, during the opening momentsof the movie, you will see a funny-looking ''college professor'' with
and saying: "C\'est tout, c\'est fini, a bientot! Sayonara!"That would be me. If....I don\'t end up on the cutting room floor!--



Taipei Times movie preview and interview with director here: [November 4, 2005]
http://www.taipeitimes.com

Taiwan Cinema News

Webposted: Summer [2005] / Taiwan Year [94]


Up-and-coming Taiwanese film director Alex Yang (楊順清), born in 1965 and a graduate of Taiwan's National University of theArts (he was a drama major there), is making his third feature film this summer, following his debut film "The Trigger" [ 扣板機 ] and his popular sophomore followup "Taipei 21" (台北二一).

The new film is titled "My Fair Laddy" (我的逍遙學伴), and the romantic comedy was filmed in June and July on the picturesque campus of Chung Cheng University [中-正-大-學] (literally, Chiang Kai-shek University) in Chiayi County [嘉義] in southern Taiwan [台灣].

The Taiwanese film stars Bobby Dou and Lin Meng-ching [ 林孟瑾 ], among other local actors.

Popular TV host Chang Fei's son also has a starring role in the movie, according to sources.

"My Fair Laddy," which focuses on Taiwan's youth culture, is set for an October or November 2005 debut on screens in Taipei and other cities nationwide. It will be screened at festivals overseas as well, according to the producers.

Synopsis:

MY FAIR LADDY is about a college boy and two college girls. They are all students at Chung Cheng University (CCU) in Chiayi, Taiwan. The boy , named Tong-tong, is not famous until he writes a drama that makes a big hit on campus and even nationwide. Sophia , the most beautiful girl at CCU , promises to perform this drama. During the rehearsal, they start to fall in love with each other...

On the other hand, Tong-tong's girlfriend , Ann , worries about her boyfriend since he begins to be famous. She is afraid of losing him. But she is a thoughful girl, and everytime Tong-tong is without any inspiration , she will pretend to be an anonymous character on the Internet and give him some suggestions.

Finally , Tong-tong is gradually confused with love, fame and being himself... The movie has a little comedy , a little romance , and a lot of meaningful ideas about modern life and romance in today's Taiwan.

It is sure to be a hit nationwide and overseas, too, in Japan and elsewhere.

Yang is known as a sensitive director with a pronounced talent for both composition and dialogue. Having studied and worked with well-known Taiwanese film director Edward Yang [楊德昌] (no relation), Alex Yang is slowing finding his own audiences, both at home and overseas.

With his third film, Alex Yang is finally coming of age as a director.Yang's particular strengths are as a storyteller: his keen grasp of cultural context, and his discreetly poetic sensibility, according to industry sources. He is seen as an heir to the gentle humanism of Edward Yang (whose breakthrough film, ''A Brighter Summer Day'', Alex Yang co-wrote).

Viewers of "My Fair Laddy" can expect the same attention to detail inYang's new film -- the furnishings in people's homes and classrooms, the rhythm of their lives, all serving to delineate elements of character and status -- and a similarly deep affection for his characters.

The use of cellular phones, instant messaging, and e-mail are not just props but are media through which important communication, misunderstandings, and reconciliations in the storyline are made possible, according to sources.

"Can youth save Taiwan film?" asked the International Herald Tribune newspaper last year, in an article from Taipei by reporter CarolineGluck. The answer, in Alex Yang's capable hands, is yes.

Yes, yes,yes!

As Gluck wrote in the IHT: "A new generation of Taiwanese filmmakersand producers is beginning to make waves."

"My Fair Laddy will likely be a breakthrough film for Yang and for Taiwan cinema in general, according to sources, hoping to find audiences in Japan, Hong Kong, Europe and North America following its Taipei debut later this year.









------------------------

我的逍遙學伴 Production Notes:

http://movie.cca.gov.tw/PEOPLE/people_inside.asp?rowid=212&id=1


Production Company: Together Productions, Ltd., TAIPEI

Taiwan's romantic college campus comedy "My Fair Laddy"

set to reach for worldwide audience both East and West

Fortysomething film director Alex Yang is shooting a new movie in Taiwan, his third since "The Trigger" and "Taipei 21", and if all goes well, this may very well be his break-out film, bringing him to the attention of a global audience both East and West. Titled tentatively in English, "My Fair Laddy," a play-on-words on "My Fair Lady", the movie is being billed as a kind of neurotic comedy, a postmodern take on university life among Taiwan's young generations. Starring an energetic cast of Taiwanese actors from TV, film and stage backgrounds, and shoton location in southern Taiwan, on the picturesque college campus of Chung Cheng University, "My Fair Laddy" is actually titled something like "My Cool Study Partner" in Mandarin, and as the title suggests, it's a love story, a comedic, romantic love story: boy meets girl, boy studies with girl, other boys meet girl, hijinx ensue. The original screenplay was written by Yang, and the movie was filmed in July 2005 at CCU.


''My Fair Laddy" looks positioned to reach a wide audience overseas, as well, and Yang and his producers hope to screen the movie at international film festivals in such places as Venice, Cannes, Berlin, Montreal, New York and London. Financed by a production team comprised of Taiwanese and French investors, the film is poised to put Yang on the international festival map and put Taiwanese film-making back in the saddle again. With a theme that college students around the world will be able to relate to, "My Fair Laddy" might be the film that takes Yang to an international stage, while also giving the Taiwanese film industry a much-needed shot in the arm. Soon......viewers in Asia will get a first look at Yang's romantic comedy, and since word of mouth is bound to be good, this film will travel far -- globally.

22 Comments:

Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

記者黃恆/民雄報導
 由二00四年亞太影展最佳影片「台北二一」導演楊順清執導的「我的逍遙學伴」電影,將於十日在國立中正大學取景開拍,中正大學校長羅仁權九日與楊順清,演員竇智孔、相馬茜、林孟謹、張少懷,網路作家藤井樹,及參與演出的同學共同舉行開鏡儀式,祈求拍片過程順利。
 偶像劇「流星花園」在中正大學取景,讓中正大學校園美景一炮而紅,甚至還紅到海外去,吸引不少外國觀光客指明要到中正大學參觀。去年由中正大學行銷所曾光華教授承辦的南方影展邀請到「台北二一」導演楊順清到中正與會,彼此建立了情誼,因此在曾光華引薦下,楊順清決定將這部以大學校園為主軸的電影在中正大學拍攝,同時大量引用該校學生參與演出,並甄選出該校國際標準舞社、梨園劇坊等學生社團,擔任劇中要角。
 楊順清表示,拍攝一部電影所費不貲,在沒有輔導金、企業金援下,要順利拍攝實有困難,中正大學除全力支援拍攝期間所需的各項場景,及工作人員的住宿外,由曾光華教授領導的行銷團隊,更是大力執行各項行銷、包裝、宣傳等工作,對於整部片子的推動不遺餘力。
 服務、手機文學、手機部落格等活動,透過手機文化規劃一整套整合行銷活動。楊順清指出,「我的逍遙學伴」也會顛覆一般小說改編成電影的模式,首次結合網路知名作家-藤井樹,將電影改編成小說,這在國內也是相當特別的合作方式。
 昨天的開鏡儀式,主要演員竇智孔、相馬茜、林孟謹、張少懷等及作家藤井樹全部出席,現場索取簽名、拍照的學子眾多,也引起不小的騷動。電影將正式於六月十日開拍,預計在中正大學拍攝一個月。

http://www.cdnnews.com.tw/20050610/news/ysyl/O85008002005060917210506.htm

9:48 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

http://enews.ccu.edu.tw/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1630

9:09 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

http://hk.epochtimes.com/bh/5/6/11/n951811.htm

9:10 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

06-15
E-NEWS of CCU campus PR office

【記者CHEN 陳依娜/中正大學報導】

  由楊順清執導的校園電影「我的逍遙學伴」,六月九日在中正大學舉辦開鏡典禮與影友會,演員竇智孔、林孟謹、相馬茜以及網路作家藤井樹現身活動中心中庭,吸引許多同學圍觀。


電影「我的逍遙學伴....MY FAIR LAD」在中正大學舉行開鏡儀式。
記者陳依娜/攝影

  羅仁權校長說,繼偶像劇流星花園之後,中正的校園美景能再次展現在大家面前,透過電影可以做更國際化的傳播。行銷所曾光華教授表示,去年南方影展曾經邀請楊導演到中正大學,兩人閒談之下就促成了「我的逍遙學伴」的開拍,電影有百分之八十在中正大學取景拍攝。

  楊順清導演表示,中正的校園相當美麗,很適合拍電影,校長更下令各處室全力協助電影的拍攝。楊導演開玩笑地說,他想在寧靜湖取景,校長還下令把天鵝抓來給劇組拍呢!他很感謝校方的協助,希望這部電影可以達到為中正大學宣傳的效果,為中正大學盡一份心力。

  「我的逍遙學伴」描述一位哲學系學生在偶然的機會下擔任一齣舞台劇的導演,而這齣舞台劇的女主角正是他喜歡的女孩,同時也是學校校花,偏偏這個女孩個性高傲,兩人之間產生了許多激盪。演員竇智孔表示,他演的是哲學系的學生,感覺上哲學系學生是屬於埋頭苦讀型的,比較不像他這種愛運動的人。飾演女主角的林孟謹則表示,她沒有演過類似的角色,覺得這個角色不太好演,電影中還要演出一段京劇,她以前沒有學過,挑戰性蠻高的。

  這次的演員除了擔綱男、女主角的竇智孔和林孟謹之外,還有日本賽車皇后相馬茜,以及綜藝大哥大張菲的兒子張少懷。本校也有歷史系、傳播系、企管系、行銷所約三十位同學參與電影拍攝。學校除了為劇組提供住宿,以及教室、體育館等各種拍攝的場地外,還有一百多位本校工作人員協助電影拍攝。

  電影六月九號開鏡,從這個禮拜開始在校內拍攝,楊順清說,劇組一直到七月十幾號都會在中正拍攝,每個禮拜會提供兩天給學校同學「圍觀」,至於時間則會公布在學校的 BBS上,想一睹偶像風采或認識電影拍攝的同學別錯過這個機會。

  由曾光華教授帶領的行銷團隊將負責電影的行銷宣傳,未來會舉辦多場校園巡迴活動,「我的逍遙學伴」劇本也將由網路作家藤井樹寫成小說,電影預計會在十一月至十二月間上映,屆時會以結合小說、電影的面貌和大家見面。

9:12 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

Taiwan's romantic college campus comedy "My Fair Laddy"
set to reach for worldwide audience both East and West



TAIPEI, TAIWAN -- Alex Yang is shooting a new movie in Taiwan, his
third since "The Trigger" and "Taipei 21", and if all goes well, this
will be his break-through film, bringing him to the attention of a
global audience both East and West.

Titled tentatively in English, "My Fair Laddy," a play-on-words on "My
Fair Lady", the movie is being billed as a kind of neurotic comedy, a
postmodern take on university life among Taiwan's young generations.
Starring an energetic cast of Taiwanese actors from TV, film and stage
backgrounds, the cast also includes a Japanese "racing queen idol,"
the model and actress Akane Soma, who has been working in Taiwan for
the past 12 months, learing the language and building up an islandwide
fan base.

Shot on location in southern Taiwan, on the picturesque college campus
of Chung Cheng University, "My Fair Laddy" is titled "My Cool Study
Partner" in Mandarin, and as the title suggests, it's a love story, a
comedic, romantic love story: boy meets girl, boy studies with girl,
other boys meet girl, hijinx ensue. Written by Yang and his wife, Amy
Ho, the movie is based on a popular series of Internet novels written
by Taiwanese bestseller sensation HiYaWu, whose books have already
been translated into Thai and Korean for readers overseas.

"My Fair Laddy" looks positioned to reach a wide audience overseas, as
well, and Yang and his producers hope to screen the movie an
international film festivals in such places as Venice, Cannes, Berlin,
Montreal, New York and London. With a theme that college students
around the world will be able to relate to, "My Fair Laddy" might be
the film that takes Yang to an international stage, while also giving
the Taiwanese film industry a needed shot in the arm.

Come December, viewers in Asia will get a first look at Yang's
romantic comedy, and if word of mouth is good, this film could travel
far -- globally.

9:11 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

There's a first time for every amateur actor, and don't I know!

contributed by a bit actor from some unknown country....



I was recently asked to play a very small role in Alex Yang's new film titled
"My Fair Laddy" (''My Cool Study Partner'' is the Mandarin title for
Taiwan viewers), and when I say "very small role," I mean like less
than ten seconds of film time, when the movie is finally cut and
edited and ready for release in December. I play the role of a college
professor who -- in the very first scene in the film, so don't be late
to the screening, or you will miss my film debut! -- is being
interviewed by a pretty television reporter, and she asks me:
"Professor, what do you think of this new writer on campus?"

I am wearing a colorful southern Taiwan-style nightmarket shirt, a
black French beret, and black reading glasses. I say to her, or to the
camera, it depends on the final edit: "Oh, la la, C'est magnifique,
c'est tres tres tres bien, c'est un chef d'oeuvre."

[Why am I speaking French? I don't know, but I guess the character
that I am playing in the movie -- for all of ten seconds, maybe less! -- is

- Show quoted text -
an American professor in Taiwan who likes to speak French when
praising things. Since I do speak French, majored in it in college and
lived in Paris for a year back in my college days, the role came easy
to me, and it's one reason why the director chose me to be in the
film. In fact, Mr. Yang interviewed me in French and that's how I got
the part.]

I go on, still speaking to the pretty TV reporter from ETON-TV ( or so
her signboard on the microphone says): "You know, he's the best writer
on campus. In this day and age, talent is very important thing, and
this guy's got it!"

At that point, I pretend that I don't want to answer any more
questions from the reporter, and I blurt out, to the camera: "C'est
tout, c'est fini, a bientot! Sayonara!"
{*translation: "That's all, it's finished, see you later, I'm outta
here..." and then switching into Japanese: ...."Goodbye!"}

Now to film that scene, it took about an hour, we had to do about 20
takes, repeating the scene over and over, mainly because dumb me could
not remember my three easy lines, and the complicated process of
speaking French, English and Japanese confused my brain stem and
caused me to flub my lines over and over again. Finally, on the last
take, just before the director was about to fire me and hire a new
actor to take my place, I got it right, spoke my lines like a
Shakespearean pro, and got it right!

"Cut!" yelled the director. "It's a take."

So I got the job (I still haven't been paid yet, and in fact, I am not
even sure if this was a paying job, and besides, money was not my
motivating factor in taking this serious acting role) and now I'm
gonna be in the movies. I can't wait until the film comes out in
December: I am sure my role will end up on the cutting room floor,
anyway, and you won't even see my stellar efforts in the final cut,
but hey, it was fun, it was a hoot, a lark, something to write home
about, and if nothing else, something to tell the grandkids.

"Hey, once upon a time, Grandpa Danny was in a movie in Taiwan, and he
played the role of a college professor in a funny, romantic comedy
directed by that talented director from Taipei, Alex Yang," I will
tell the grandkids, sitting on my rocking chair in Tahiti, watching
the sun set over the Pacific Ocean while sipping my last cappucino of
the day. "And I had a great time repeating that scene over and over
for an hour until I got it right!"

Now, about this movie, "My Fair Laddy"...


Alex Yang is shooting it in Taiwan, on a college campus, and it's his
third feature film since "The Trigger" and "Taipei 21". If all goes well, this
will be his break-out film, bringing him to the attention of a
global audience both East and West.

Titled tentatively [in English], "My Fair Laddy," a play-on-words on "My
Fair Lady", the movie is being billed as a kind of neurotic comedy, a
post-modern take on university life among Taiwan's younger generation.
Starring an energetic cast of Taiwanese actors from TV, film and stage
backgrounds, the cast also includes a Japanese "racing queen idol,"
the model and actress Soma Akane, who has been working in Taiwan for
the past 12 months, learing the language and building up an islandwide
fan base. [I met her once during the filming and said "konnichiwa" to her!]

Shot on location in southern Taiwan, on the picturesque college campus
of Chung Cheng University, "My Fair Laddy" is really titled "My Cool Study
Partner" in Mandarin, and as the title suggests, it's a love story, a
comedic, romantic love story: boy meets girl, boy studies with girl,
other boys meet girl, hijinx ensue.

Written by Yang and his wife, Amy
Ho, the movie is based on a popular series of Internet novels written
by Taiwanese bestseller sensation HiYaWu, whose books have already
been translated into Thai and Korean for readers overseas.

"My Fair Laddy" looks positioned to reach a wide audience overseas, as
well, and Yang and his producers hope to screen the movie an
international film festivals in such places as Venice, Cannes, Berlin,
Montreal, New York and London. With a theme that college students
around the world will be able to relate to, "My Fair Laddy" might be
the film that takes Yang to an international stage, while also giving
the Taiwanese film industry a needed shot in the arm.

Come December, viewers in Asia will get a first look at Yang's
romantic comedy, and if word of mouth is good, this film could travel
far -- globally.

And if you watch closely, during the opening moments
of the movie, you will see a funny-looking college professor with
seriously-thick black reading glasses looking right into the camera
and saying: "C'est tout, c'est fini, a bientot! Sayonara!"

That would be me. If....I don't end up on the cutting room floor!

5:10 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

July 5, 2005:

we film drama auditorium scene, stage play, applause, two hours
and later, 4 hours, 56 takes, it seemed like that, critics go backstage to chat with actors....

6:46 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

http://blog.emome.net/blog/MyFairLad

http://blog.emome.net/blog/MyFairLad2

6:05 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

Zhang Shao-huai in new movie

by Reporter Jiang Chaolun
Jiayi

2005/7/8

Chang Fei's son Chang Shao-huai is starrring in "My Cool study partner" directed by Alex YAng.

Co-starring with Bobby Dou.

Chang wants to make a name for himself on his own, rather than just ride on his famous father's coat-tails.

In this new movie, Chang must in a few scenes wear women's clothing...

張少懷拒上老爸張菲節目

【記者 reporter
報導 2005/7/8】

張菲的小兒子張少懷在「我的逍遙學伴」中有吃重演出,由於話少,又留著鬍子和長髮,酷斃了的模樣還被搭檔竇智孔戲稱像「兵馬俑」,不過他倒是很有個性表示,不想沾老爸的光,更不可能上老爸的節目。

 在「我的逍遙學伴」戲中,有一幕戲張少懷必須男扮女裝,這可把他給嚇壞了,心理掙扎了好久才終於被導演說服,由於「笑」果奇佳,大家一致認為可以走喜劇丑角路線,竇智孔更稱讚他是「冷面笑將」,對於這些「讚美」,張少懷回應說:「還好吧,每種角色我都想試試看!」

 儘管有個綜藝天王老爸張菲,張少懷卻很低調,甚至刻意避免沾老爸的光,「我也有我自己的人生和過程啊。」張少懷說從小就知道當名人之子的困擾,不過還是不喜歡活在老爸的光環下。

 即使如此,媒體仍不放過追問日前關於哥哥大砲的婚姻大事,張少懷表示未來嫂子席夢娜是個很有個性的女生,雖然她宣稱婚期無限期延後,但應該只是不希望被打擾,一家人也沒有因為這樣而怪罪老爸張菲。

6:46 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

''My cool study partner'' (My fair laddy) came Cheng Mingjen to report youth frivolous, could ramble is invincible! Yang Shunch'ing directs in 2004 because photographs Taibei to be able to go to work race's love story "Taibei 21" to obtain the Asian and Pacific film preview best movie, this year, Yang Techiang the story space and time background will pull to brims with the youth purely, both on the university student body which and will be at a loss, similarly will choose because "the meteor garden" to become goes sightseeing the scenic spot "state-run center honorable study" to make the place which will occur for the story, but center will be honorable study not only the generous support actor, the staff stays with the correlation scene use, will select the GB code dance mass organization by the direct, 梨園劇 in the work place and the multi- positions the student holds the post of the movie supporting role, the extra. Movie description: University student Su Feiya (Lin Meng sincerely plays the part of) is the school man of the hour concurrently school is colored, which no matter walks to all is encircled by in admiration of somebody's fame male schoolmate, the light was "study the partner" then already arranges to 108. East east (Dou Chihk'ung plays the part of) the philosophy department student which is on own initiative has unrecognized talent, although has to like him the obedient girlfriend peaceful being peaceful very much (Xu Huini to play the part of) but actually Xiao to want one day to be able as soon as to kiss Su Feiya the perfumed hair-oil. Some day, east east suddenly will obtain the national handset literature big prize first prize, instantaneous will turn the nation most to have the future, most magnesium lamps pursues "star of the tomorrow", this will drop from the clouds vanity ingenious change Soviet, east, peaceful three person of relations. . . However, this moment scenery has not sat the bosom Soviet beautiful woman's east east, the innermost feelings actually hide a secret, originally he rewards the work is plagiarizes in the network some to call self "屌 the surface person" the handset tribe standard (MBLOG), in order to hold "star of the tomorrow" the corona, east east already became addicted like the toxicant general, right "屌 the surface person" the dependent date is deep. . . Who is 屌 the surface person? East not only becomes the huge fear which east the innermost feelings secret also becomes him to motion a person to not go This space falls down is "the gift" or "the trap"? Yang leads in order to understand dramatis personae status --- university student, specially when idea script went south Jiayi several times, personally to discussed with the student, by the time could understand the present university student to the love, the schoolwork and the future values, the disposition, the life, the culture, the terminology and so on, the entire movie will have seven grades to live is used to has does smiles the style, also had to seven grades lives the creation to be at a loss, to struggle and persisted, also practicalized portrays certain university students to cannot bear the vanity the enticement 越陷越深. The male and female lead chooses the angle process, lets the director headache not already, the actor must be able to display east east that kind to let the person distinguish clearly is the ability are many or the local ruffian taste thick feeling, from time to time fills with the ideal in melancholy both eyes, from time to time fills in the brain to pursues beautiful woman's daydream, tries in the middle of the mirror process not to lack some present well-known idol actors, finally Dou Chihk'ung to most tallies directs in the heart the east east but 雀 in the screen to elect. The leading lady must be able to display Su Feiya self-confidently, arrogant, likes trampling admires him the male schoolmate's ten thousand people to confuse the elegant demeanour, the summit rechecks the flower generally "is beautiful for the person 慧黠" the mechanical impression, finally by "Taibei 21" leading lady Lin Mengchin fully exposes talent. Moreover, comes from Japan's vehicle race empress Ma Ch'ienyeh to act in the middle of the movie 戲份 although are not many but actually the essential role. In this set, the date star and center the honorable student's movie, will be able the suitable degree to present seven grades generations to the love, interpersonal and to loyal (no matter will be loyally to oneself, sweetheart) the values, will open the present Taiwan university student "the youth frivolous □ramble will be invincible" the real life.

6:49 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

http://yam.udn.com/yamnews/daily/2775803.shtml

6:53 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

不沾張菲光 張少懷扮女裝搞笑
記者 葉麗英/嘉義民雄報導 07/08 02:28


張少懷(右)不希望父親的光環遮蓋自己表現。
記者 葉麗英/攝影
國片「我的逍遙學伴」在風景優美的中正大學拍攝,張菲的二兒子張少懷也在戲中有吃重演出,雖出身明星世家卻相當低調,強調各自有各自的生活,演戲是他的興趣,希望靠自己努力,不想沾父親的光。
一臉冷酷表情的張少懷,私底下卻是個搞笑專家,昨天劇組正好拍一幕張少懷穿女裝的畫面,只見他綁起辮子,穿著露背裝,蓄著落腮鬍,喜感十足,竇智孔還笑稱他活像「兵馬俑」,大家鬧他乾脆以諧星路線勇闖演藝圈。

劇中竇智孔與張少懷都暗戀女主角林孟瑾,而私底下經常「3P」玩在一起,由於拍戲的地方頗偏僻,大家相聚的時間自然很多,趁著空檔就一起在中正大學裡打撞球、游泳、保齡球,很快就成了好朋友。

6:54 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

wrap party, Tuesday, JULY 12

the film has wrapped, now the film goes into editing stage and post production stage , with debut set for september or october.

I will be there. SMILE

8:13 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

MY FAIR LADDY is about a college boy and two college girls. They are all students at Chung Cheng University (CCU) in Chiayi, Taiwan.

The boy , named Tong-tong, is not famous until he writes a drama that makes a big hit on campus and even nationwide. Sophia , the most beautiful girl at CCU , promises to perform this drama. During the rehearsal, they start to fall in love with each other...

On the other hand, Tong-tong's girlfriend , Ann , worries about her boyfriend since he begins to be famous. She is afraid of losing him. But she is a thoughful girl, and everytime Tong-tong is without any inspiration , she will pretend to be an anonymous character on the Internet and give him some suggestions.

Finally, Tong-tong is gradually confused with love, fame and being himself...

The movie has a little comedy , a little romance , and a lot of meaningful ideas about modern life and romance in today's Taiwan. It is sure to be a hit nationwide and overseas, too, in Japan and elsewhere.

10:05 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

Dear Friends,

Hi. Remember me? Dan Bloom, selling his books on Culture Road in Chiayi City?

I have some news for you.

Guess what? I was asked to play a very small role in a new movie directed
by Taiwan film director Alex Yang. The movie was filmed at Chung Cheng
University, CCU, in June and July and it will be shown in movie
theaters soon and also on DVD.

http://www.wretch.cc/album/show.php?i=kazan&b=49&f=1124379161&p=16


The movie is titled 我的逍遙學伴 in Chinese, and the English title is "My
Fair Laddy." My role in the movie is very very small, in fact, you
might not even see me in the movie if you blink your eyes too long.
SMILE. My role is just about ten seconds long, in a 90 minute movie,
so you won't see me if you blink your eyes. In the movie, I play the
role of an American college professor at CCU who says a few words in
English, French, Chinese and Taiwanese, and Japanese, too.

My part in the movie is at the very beginning of the story, so don't
be late. And when you see me, don't laugh. It's just a movie. I am NOT
a movie star. Haha.


''MY FAIR LADDY'' is about a Taiwanese college man and two Taiwan college
women. They are all students at Chung Cheng University (CCU) in
Chiayi, Taiwan.

In the movie, written by Alex Yang the CCU college student, named
Tong-tong, is not famous until he writes a drama that
makes a big hit on campus and even nationwide. Sophia , the most
beautiful girl at CCU , promises to perform this drama. During the
rehearsal, they start to fall in love with each other...

On the other hand, Tong-tong's girlfriend , Ann , worries about her
boyfriend since he begins to be famous. She is afraid of losing him.
But she is a thoughful girl, and everytime Tong-tong is without any
inspiration , she will pretend to be an anonymous character on the
Internet and give him some suggestions.

Finally, Tong-tong is gradually confused with love, fame and being himself...

The movie has a little comedy , a little romance , and a lot of
meaningful ideas about modern life and romance in today's Taiwan. It
is sure to be a hit nationwide and overseas, too, in Japan and
elsewhere.

You can read more about the movie here:

http://taiwanfilms101.blogspot.com

Write to me if you have any questions, or just to say hello. Tell me
what you are doing these days and where are you? Taipei? Kaohsiung?
Chiayi? Taichung? Ilan? Hualien? Pintung? Kenting? USA? UK? Paris?

2:58 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

MY FAIR LADY was a popular movie, made in 1964, starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, and written by Alan Jay Lerner from his Broadway musical that was based, of course, on the George Bernard Shaw play titled ''Pygmalion".

George Cukor directed the movie.

10:14 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

My Fair Lady was a 1956 musical theater production with lyrics and book by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederic Loewe, adapted from George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. It was also made into a film by Warner Bros. in 1964

The stage musical first opened on March 15, 1956 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York City. It ran for 2717 performances, a Broadway record at the time.

10:19 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

My Fair Laddy" shoots for college campus viewers

by Dan Bloom

To make a college campus movie, Taiwanese film director Alex Yang went
to a college campus. Not just any college campus, but the scenic Chung
Cheng University (CCU) in Chiayi, spread out over a large area among
rolling hills and neighboring farmland. Enlisting the enthusiastic
support of Chung Cheng University's president and student body, Yang [
楊順清 ] and his production team started shooting "My Fair Laddy", with
several well-known Taipei television and film stars as the leads.

Filmed during a 30-day period in June and July, the film crew lived
free-of-charge on campus at a CCU guest house, hired a cast of unpaid
extras from the student population and made "My Fair Laddy" --
starring Taipei actors Lin Meng-ching (林孟瑾), Bobby Dou and XX,
popular TV entertainer Chang Fei's son.

The romantic comedy, titled [ 我的逍遙學伴 ] in Chinese, had its nationwide
premiere Wednesday night at CCU, with students packing the campus
auditorium with Yang and his producers on hand to get a feel for how
the movie went over with viewers. More campus screenings are scheduled
over the next few weeks, an appearance at next year's Berlin Film
Festival is planned, a DVD is in the works and the national theatrical
release of the film in movie theaters is set for December,according to
Steve Cheng, a professor of marketing at CCU and one of the producers
of the film.

In a recent interview, Yang, 40, spoke about the genesis and
background of his new film, which he hopes to take later to audiences
in Japan, Hong Kong, North America and Europe. The director, a
graduate of the Taipei National University of the Arts where he
studied film with internationally-acclaimed director Edward Yang (no
relation), previously helmed two well-received movies, "The Trigger"
in 2003 and "Taipei 21" in 2004.

When asked what kind of audience he was trying to reach with this
campus comedy and how he did his pre-production research, Yang
replied:
"It's important to know the potential market and your target audience,
of course, before you make a film, because a movie is more than just a
mere work of art -- it is also a business enterprise, a product, and
they cost alot of money to finance and shoot and market. In the last
20 years, almost every Taiwanese film has faced the same problem, how
to market your film and find your audience, but in the end, a director
has to go on his personal vision and intuition. That's what I've done
for all my films."

"Although my new film is reaching for a young audience in Taiwan and
overseas, from high school students to college kids, I also know that
nonody can predict exactly what will happen with a movie, who will
come to watch it, so my only real goal for 'My Fair Laddy' was to make
the best film I could, fill it with humor and make it interesting,
meaningful and touching. I made the film for the younger generation,
and I hope they will enjoy it."

The title of Yang's film in Chinese can be translated into English as
"My Free, Unfettered Student Partner," he says, adding that many
college students in Taiwan have "study partners" on campus (usually
pairing males and females as a way for students to make new friends,
develop relationships and maybe even fall in love). In "My Fair
Laddy," the lead female character played by Lin, is named Sophia, and
she has 108 study partners as the movie opens. While the theme of the
movie is youth and how they go about trying to make their dreams come
true, the film is also about friendship, love and romance, Yang says.

"The movie has its elements of comedy, of course, and also of irony,"
Yang says. "For example, Sophia wants to find true love but how can do
this when she goes around accumulating 108 study partners? That is
part of the theme of the movie: how to be really free and unfettered
in life and love."

When asked about the genesis of the movie and how he went about
writing the screenplay, Yang replied that he has found that "artistic
freedom and creativity often come from positive reactions to very
reall financial restrictions and
production hardships."

"Many people think that creating a particular movie or
masterpiece requires a special life experience, but in my own
experience, I have found that my inspirations come from ordinary
life," Yang says. "I believe that the movie directors should live
lives just like normal people. Once you are disconnected from normal
life, from the lives that most people in society live, then it's quite
easy to make the wrong kind of film. For me, to make this movie, I
relied on my friends and family, my sense of Taiwan's younger
generation today, and I then I just sat down to write a script that
mixes up everything in an organic, interesting way. When shooting the
film, I sometimes had to
change some lcoations and sets in order to save money and keep the
movie on course, in the way I wanted it to go."

CCU played a large role in the production, too, Yang noted, with
strong support from the university president, the marketing savvy of
the business school and, of course, the student body -- many of whom
have roles in the film as extras. In addition, a volunteer crew of
around 100 CCU students from various deparments formed part of the
technical crew, mannying microphones, carrying equipment around campus
and helping schedule shoots.

"I loved shooting this movie at CCU," Yang said. "The university
provided us with a lot of important resources, free of charge, from
housing our production team to use of campus buildings for our
interior sets. And the student actors who served as extras in the film
were wonderful to work with! We really had a good time shooting this
film at CCU."

The main characters in "My Fair Laddy" are a male university student and two college coeds, according to the shooting script that Yang wrote earlier in the year. The young man, named Tong-tong, writes a play that becomes a big hit on campus. Sophia, one of the most beautiful girls on campus, says she wants to perform in Tong-tong's stage play, and during rehearsals, the two start to fall in love with each other. However, Tong-tong's girlfriend, named Ann, becomes worried that she might lose him.

Yang and his associate producer visited the CCU campus earlier in the
year, just hanging out and observing college life, and chatting with
students to get a feel for what was on their minds, as Taiwan's new
generation.

"When I visited CCU last spring and talked to a lot of students there,
I discovered some interesting insights about Taiwan society," Yang
said. "Of course, for young people anywhere, in any country, trying to
make their dreams come true is never easy, but it's part of the
process of growing up, maturing. We all go through it at that age. So
even thought the adult society around us may sometimes seem
hypocritical or fake, when we are young, as the characters in the
movie are, we live lives of innocence and strong emotions. This is all
in the movie, I hope, this theme, and part of the movie deals with
what's real and unreal, with dreams and reality."

The film is being shown now on its campus tour in Chinese, but Yang
said later prints will have English subtitles, and a DVD will be
released early next year also with English subtitles. Yang and his
producers plan to screen "My Fair Laddy" at the next Berlin Film
Festival in Germany, and they also hope to get invitations later to
film festivals in Japan, Canada, New York and Italy.

"Right now, our marketing efforts here in Taiwan are to screen the
movie on college campuses nationwide this month and next, kind of like
a university roadshow," producer Cheng says. "In addition, the popular
Internet novelist who goes by the pen name of "Hiyawu" is currently
writing a new novel based on our movie, and his book will be published
in December, giving us a huge marketing boost. And we are also running
a nationwide student writing contest for Hiyawu's upcoming novel,
whereby the winning student will have his or her work added to the
novel."

"My Fair Laddy" was financed in the usual Taiwan way, according to
Yang, with a third of the funding coming from local and international
investors, and the rest from a bank loan. One of the international
investors, Yang adds, a French national, is now director of a major
multinational clothing company based in Asia, and he was once Yang's
French teacher in Taipei when Yang was a college student some 20 years
ago. (Yang is fluent in English and French, and spent a year in Lyon,
France, as an exchange student in his younger days.)

Yang says he has three big hopes for his new movie.
" I hope we can
help bring audiences in Taiwan back to the movie theaters; I hope our
investors
can make some money, of course; and I hope filmgoers in Taiwan and
overseas will really enjoy the story and the acting in the film."

"When I first visited the CCU campus and later on during the actual
shooting of the movie, I saw real passion and devotion in the students
there," Yang adds, noting that "a country can have a lot of hope for
the future, if young people
have a passion for movies, popular music, sports,
education, literature and art. If they cultivate these things during
their college days, they won't become narrow-minded or hypocrites
later on when they become a
leaders and wage-earners in society.

Yang says he hopes "My Fair Laddy" will reach beyond Taiwan's shores
and resonate overseas,too.

"I hope that not only Taiwanese students, but also students all around the
world will identify with this movie's theme," he says. "If people have
dreams, and most college students around the world today do, then they
will be able to enjoy this movie. It's for them, after all!"

"Can Youth Save Taiwan Cinema?" asked the International Herald Tribune newspaper last year, in a headline above an article by reporter Caroline Gluck.
A new generation of Taiwanese filmmakers and producers is beginning to make waves," Gluck wrote, noting that Alex Yang was one of them. "My Fair Laddy" might just be the film that brings him to the attention of a large international audience, his break-out film.

10:24 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

The Only Road--
Alex Yang on Film

by Teng Sue-feng

With Taiwan's movie industry in the doldrums, it's tough going for idealistic new directors. Lacking channels into the international market, and the reputation to attract local producers and investors, they can only fall back on the government's Guidance and Assistance Fund for Motion Pictures. But the adverse environment has not stopped new director Alex Yang. He finished two films in three years, winning Best Picture at the 2004 Asia Pacific Film Festival with his Taipei 21.


Yang puts it this way in the storybook for Taipei 21: "The collapse of the family, a lackluster, turbulent economy, and the complexity of interpersonal relationships are steadily pushing love to extinction." Love may be hard to find, but without the dream of finding it, what else does life have to offer? Movies are Yang's true love. His passion molds his works and tempers his will.


How do you view Taipei?


Once in a while, walking through the mishmash of old and new, prosperity and poverty that make up Taipei, you might chance on a scene like this: at a noodle stand nestled away in an alley, a young, well-dressed couple sweats profusely over a meal. The foodstall's clutter is in sharp contrast to the young people's fresh, white-collar appearance. In their silence, it is apparent that they are trying to resolve some problem in their relationship.


This scene, from Alex Yang's film Taipei 21, depicts love Taipei style. The young lovers walk a tightrope between love and reality, feeling awkward and at a loss as they come to a crossroads common to many: You've been together for seven years, but where do you go from here? Do you buy a small place, marry, and settle down? Or, if your goals don't jive, do you choose the more painful path-breaking up? Do you stay in a mediocre, futureless job? Or do you open new doors by going abroad to study?


The director avoids showing Taipei landmarks, making you feel the story told in Taipei 21 could be unfolding right next to you.


Love in a city of forgetfulness

With no marketing campaigns, tepid box-office sales, and few critics even noticing it, his film unexpectedly won Best Picture at the 2004 Asia Pacific Film Festival. Lurking in the movie business for over a decade, Yang suddenly found himself very busy, showing his film in schools and attending academic discussions.


Although considered a new director, at 39 Yang is no stranger to the movie business. Speaking enthusiastically into a microphone, he points out, "You need to be wise to the ways of the world. You need to know the risks you're running. You need to plan for the worst." Yang explains that creation requires passion, but passion burns off quickly. You cannot cast aside your family for your ideals, nor should you acquire debts you can never repay. The twists and turns life hands us remind us that the journey, not the balance sheet, matters most.


Perhaps Yang's opinions have something to do with the fact that by the time he came along, Taiwan's movie industry had plummeted from an earlier pinnacle. According to statistics from the Government Information Office's Department of Motion Pictures, the number of locally produced films fell from over 100 per year in the early 1990s to only 16 in 1999, 17 in 2001, and 14 in 2003. Over the last five years, locally made films have only accounted for an average of 2% of box-office sales, while foreign films have taken the lion's share with 96%.


Yang continues to pursue his filmmaking dreams, despite the unfavorable conditions. In spite of a lack of resources, he created The Trigger and Taipei 21 within a period of three years and won Best Picture at the Asia Pacific Film Festival. This not only bore witness to his directing genius, it gave him encouragement and confidence to stay the course.


Cinematic awakening

Alex Yang's interest in movies started in high school. A typical "renaissance youth" at Taipei's Chienkuo High School, he enjoyed photography, helped publish the school magazine, and joined several school clubs. He frequently talked classmates into cutting class to see movies-windows to the world during those stifling, stressful days at school.


Yang explains that his school had a tradition of being liberal and lenient with students. For their part, students did not go overboard and neglect their studies. During his last year in high school, when his classmates had all returned to the classroom to plow away in preparation for the Joint College Entrance Examination, Yang was still searching for his future outside of textbooks.


Fortunately, the entrance test for the newly established Taipei National University of the Arts was scheduled for the same day as the college entrance exam. He opted to take the test for NTUA to "avoid the embarrassment of flunking the college entrance exam." NTUA did not, as yet, have a movie department, but well known directors like Wang Shau-di and Edward Yang taught in the Theater Department.


Edward Yang, in particular, characterized the new generation of directors. His nervous stammering and lack of structure when he lectured left students scratching their heads, but he enjoyed taking students out for coffee, to see movies, and to discuss films. Edward Yang's creative passion and analytical skills filled Alex Yang with dreams for his own future. After graduating, Yang shot the movie A Brighter Summer Day with Edward Yang. He had many important responsibilities: he was appointed assistant director, and was tasked with performance direction and scriptwriting. In 1991, Edward Yang, Yen Hung-ya, and Alex Yang won the Golden Horse Award for Best Script.


Yang explains that although Edward Yang wanted to cultivate the younger generation, in reality his personal style was overpowering. As a student, Yang was relegated to the task of gathering and organizing information. For ten years after he won the award, no other director or distributor asked him to write scripts. He found himself teaching courses on performing at Hwa Kang Arts School and Fuhsing Senior High School. He also shot the occasional commercial.


The commercials were well funded, but Yang had trouble adjusting to their formulaic nature. "All those people working together to sell instant noodles? Packaging a car to impart some warm, fuzzy values? Maybe everything else pales in comparison, because shooting movies is so fascinating." Yang used to struggle with the idea of getting a job and earning a steady salary. Then he got married and had a child. Gazing at his son's innocent face, he decided that he was going to be a father with dreams.


Yang told himself he could not simply sit back and complain about how bad things were. He began planning his creations. He looked around for money, read books, and wrote scripts. He demanded of himself that he write at least three scripts a year.


In 2000, he applied to the Guidance and Assistance Fund for Motion Pictures for a grant to shoot The Trigger. The regulations required applicants to submit shooting plans to be reviewed by a judging panel. Winners would be awarded NT$2 million. If the finished film was deemed good enough, another NT$8 million could be awarded. In the initial application, The Trigger was a runner up, so Yang received no assistance. Later, however, he was awarded the NT$8 million from the Assistance Fund.


Portraying youth subculture

The Trigger depicts a professional hit man hired to take out a target. But his girlfriend's pregnancy gives him second thoughts. He decides that after this job, he will renounce his profession and turn himself in. After his release from prison, he finds his girlfriend married. Bent on revenge, he hooks up with another ex-con he met in prison, a younger man unjustly incarcerated. They plan the job, but his hate disappears when he sees his old girlfriend and his daughter leading happy, normal lives. Unfortunately, determined to dish out justice, his younger partner kills the girl who got him put away.


It was a real-life incident in a school in which Yang taught-the beating to death of a student by a group of youths-that gave him the idea of exploring the world of young people. One of the youths accused in the killing was a friend of the movie's leading male, Tsai Hsin-hung. Yang feels that to probe the inner world of young people, you need to first understand their parents' generation, so he created a middle-aged hit man and told the story from the different viewpoints of the two generations.


The application to the Assistance Fund, the final step in the making of his first film, drove home for Yang what is wrong with Taiwan's movie industry.


Yang explains, "When the 1990s wave of new films ended, Taiwan's movie industry faced a crisis. Filmmakers didn't bother making audience-oriented pictures; rather, films increasingly became personal expressions aimed at niche markets. As the laurels won in international film exhibitions were forgotten and box-office sales declined, the Assistance Fund made filmmakers even less willing to deal with the market. Instead of weeding them out, the system encouraged them to go off on their own private tangents.


Yang suggests that the Assistance Fund should subsidize any film that meets certain criteria, like 90-minute 35 mm pictures shot in Dolby sound. Giving them all NT$3 million or NT$5 million awards would reduce financial risks and encourage new directors to take a chance.


In 2002, he worked with the Central Motion Picture Company on Taipei 21. The company was eager to win awards and had the technical personnel he needed. Yang raced to finish the film in November 2003, but in the end, Hong Kong movies came out on top again that year at the Golden Horse Awards. CMPC was very disappointed when Taipei 21 received no nominations.


Taking his own path

Life is full of the unexpected. Yang had never thought that Taipei 21 would receive Best Picture at the Asia Pacific Film Festival. Yang explains it away, saying that the judges just wanted to spread out the awards. Taipei 21 only won because Korea, Taiwan's archrival, had already won Best Director and Best Leading Actor.


Frustrated, Yang explains, "Even after winning an award, film distributors were still unwilling to invest in my films. Taiwan has plenty to shoot, lots of stories, and no shortage of movie people, but we have lacked the aesthetic judgment and someone to recognize our abilities." Explaining his vision, he says, "Now, I've proven that I can shoot quality pictures. I hope that my future films make some money."


The leading actor of Taipei 21 is a realtor by day and serves Japanese tourists in a nightclub by night. When they hear him speak Japanese in the movie, many people immediately think of Takeshi Kaneshiro, a superstar of Taiwanese and Japanese blood.


Says Yang: "I, too, wanted to get a big name, but back then, none of the big stars would even give me the time of day." Taipei 21's NT$8 million budget would probably not have even been enough to pay Takeshi Kaneshiro's salary. Waiting for him to have a free slot in his schedule, if he had any, would have added to the movie's already considerable costs.


Compared with the relatively gloomy picture The Trigger, Taipei 21 is carefree and unrestrained. Tsai Ming-liang, another director who shoots Taipei, likes to capture the loneliness and estrangement of the city, which he ties into a neat package with no loose threads. In contrast, the audience finds the people of Taipei depicted in Yang's films approachable and the joy-filled, starry-eyed dreams of its young characters contagious.


Looking back on his maturation process, Yang explains, "I tried to say too much in my first work. The film came across as a bit heavy-handed as a result. When filming Taipei 21, I had already learned how to transform hazy concepts and emotions into an engaging story."


"Whenever we finish a film, I experience a fleeting moment of indescribable joy. Before long, however, regret engulfs me. I loathe that my compromises, my ignorance, my incompetence have irredeemably scarred the picture. That's why movies are so engrossing: You never reach the pinnacle, but each attempt brings you a little closer." Full of respect for the accomplishments of earlier directors, Yang has high hopes for his own future. Taiwan's movie industry has experienced a desertification of sorts, but the hard work of those that came before has ensured that this desert can bloom again.

10:26 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

I saw the movie last night, OCtober 19, it is great!
It was shown at CCU, over 1500 students lined up outside the campus auditorium to see the movie. Sold out tickets! 90 minutes. Some great acting by Taipei professionals, beautiful scenes of CCU and the surrounding countryside in Chiayi County, nice musical score, and a very intriguing screenplay script. This movie should do well in Taiwan and overseas as well.

Of special note, two South American singers, one from Paraguy and the other from Argentina, they live in Taipei, have been in Taiwan for over 20 years now, they play a beautiful song in the movie, near the beginning in a rural lakeside coffeeshop and at the end of the movie, just before the closing credits.

2:12 AM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

http://www.wretch.cc/album/show.php?i=wingfunlau&b=11&f=1129759100&p=2

http://www.wretch.cc/album/show.php?i=wingfunlau&b=11&f=1129759100&p=1

10:50 PM  
Blogger DANIELBLOOM said...

a CCU blogger wrote:

我的逍遙學伴 my fair laddy
昨天19號 《我逍遙學伴》在中正大學首映

6點下課 踏著輕鬆的步伐
期待的心情 經過大禮堂
一條長長的人龍 望不見尾巴
看來 第一站的首映會 是很成功的
等阿等 終於進入首映會場

噓.................... 影片開始了...

這是 導演楊順清和作家藤井樹攜手合作的電影
他們以相同的人物 不同的情節各自創作
電影是敘述一個哲學系大學生-陳子東
他有一個愛他而且很乖巧的女友 安安
但他的心中卻肖想著校花蘇菲亞......

某天 陳子東意外獲得全國手機文學獎首獎
瞬間成為鎂光燈焦點 突來的虛榮
悄悄改變了蘇.陳.安三方的關係......

東東趁勢將作品《逍遙學伴》改編成舞台劇
藉以吸引蘇菲亞擔任劇中女主角
但他卻隱藏了一個秘密:
得獎作品乃抄襲自「屌面人」的手機部落格
盛名把蘇菲亞帶來了,但事情卻出乎意料 ......

為保有「明日之星」的光環和駕馭蘇菲亞
東東對「屌面人」依賴日深......

【誰是屌面人呢?】

上面幾段是參考我的逍遙學伴官方網站
有興趣的人可以去逛逛
在電影中 我印象最深的一句話是
愛他 就要讓他離開
這也影片中最後的結局 安安瀟灑的離開子東了
導演說 這是他們那一代的愛情觀
也希望現在的人 也好好體會這句話

愛不是要黏在一塊
是要讓對方幸福

其實要仔細說這部電影到底演些什麼呢?
也說不出個所以然
拼貼式的手法表現
硬要歸類 也難清楚分類
它就像莊周夢蝴蝶一般
似夢非夢 似假還真
也許 有人會大夢初醒
或許 有人還夢中牽縈
這也只是也許
箇中滋味
就留待觀賞人細細品味 靜靜沉澱
你會發現.........
噓~
有些事只可心領神會
口耳相傳..... 說不出心中的真






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