I hope this isn’t stepping on Mingson’s or Carson’s turf to note that today’s Taiwan News reports that Warner will be screening Betelnut Beauty with English subtitles, starting tomorrow (May 19). (Other theaters will have the film, but without English.) It’s perhaps to be expected but still a shame that many expats in Taiwan have to wait until a trip back home to see a Taiwanese movie, because English-subtitled versions are rare here.
Even those expats who speak Mandarin fluently but who do not read as well may have troubles understanding movies with lots of Taiwan-hua.
In spite of the gang theme etc this movie is mostly in Mandarin. I did not have much trouble understanding it without English subtitles and my Taiwanese really sux although my mandarin is OK. It is quite a good movie.