An esteemed Forumosan last night recommended that I see No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (不能沒有你) which he described (and I’m paraphrasing here) as a lovely movie and a real slice of Taiwan. I’m no movie buff, and I’ve only seen a few films made here. I don’t want to go through hundreds to find the gold, so, knowledgeable comrades, help me out: let’s hear your top ten Taiwanese films.
I’ve hear a lot a good things about No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti. Off the top of my head I’m thinking of Yi Yi …but here’s a link to a bunch of Taiwanese films–http://www.mysoju.com/#taiwanese-movie
It was OK. Thank god it was in B&W though…god awful ugly scenery (that we’re all used to and wouldn’t pay to see it on the big screen).
It was more narrative non-fiction a la those Tienanmen escape books written by mainland Chinese though. Some parts your KNEW just didn’t happen that way. They lived in an abandoned building? They DROVE their POS motorcycle back and forth top Taipei from KHG? Why? The bus is cheaper. Little things like that. But the politicians and public servants were TOTALLY represented as clueless shitheads. RIGHT on the money!
Are there even ten TW films around of note? 
Nobody mentioned the Titanic beater…the cape of 69 or whatever it was called… or the cutesy Au REvoir?
Ghosted has a great cast–all really good-looking . . .
There’s A LOT of good Taiwanese films.
Anything by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang and Tsai Ming-liang, for starters (and that makes about 40). Then there must be a couple of dozen films that come out EVERY YEAR of which at least a few are decent.
It’s hard for me to think of a top ten (I might try later), but here’s a couple from other lists:
Taiwanese films from the Hong Kong Film Award 100 Best Chinese Movies (2005) (in order, I think):
City of Sadness (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
Dragon Gate Inn (King Hu)
A Touch of Zen (King Hu)
A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang)
The Time to Live and the Time to Die (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
The Terrorizers (Edward Yang)
The Winter
Yi-Yi (Edward Yang)
Po Xiao Shi Fen
Raining in the Mountain
The Wedding Banquet (Ang Lee)
Dust in the Wind (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
Taipei Story (Edward Yang)
Execution in Autumn
Rebels of the Neon God (Tsai Ming-liang)
The Puppet Master (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
If I put the director in brackets, that means I’ve seen it, and you should be able to find it somewhere. I think all of those are truly excellent movies.
The book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die has 8 Taiwanese movies. Here they are with a little from the blurbs which i used in an earlier post (chronological order):
1.Hsia Nu (A Touch of Zen)
1969/Taiwan/200m/Color/Mandarin/Dir:King Hu
“A Touch of Zen is considered a benchmark in Chinese cinema”. “At three hours, the pace is surprisingly brisk, because this is a movie that’s genuinely unpredictable. You’re just waiting for what’s going to happen next”. "Hu understood that films were experienced with the senses and he fills the CinemaScope frame with a constant swirl of color and movement. Honing his craft on several previous wuxia films, A Touch of Zen stands as the zenith of Hu’s career’.
2.Tong Nian Wang Shi (The Time to Live and the Time to Die)
1985/Taiwan/138m/Mandarin/Dir:Hsiao-hsien Hou
“The direction … is understated, reflective and measured, in the Ozu style, making all the more devastatingly powerful the paroxysms of agonized emotion when they are eventually allowed to ignite the screen. The film is a work of remarkable maturity, assurance and clarity.”
3.Beijing Chengshi (A City of Sadness)
1989/Taiwan/157m/Taiwanese-Mandarin-Japanese/Dir:Hsiao-hsien Hou
“There are two separate stories to tell here. One is this wonderful story which happens sometimes, somewhere, most of the time unpredictably: The rise of a New Wave, of an artistic movement in a country, and of the emergence of one or two exceptionally talented filmmakers. This occurred in the 1980s in Taiwan with the New Cinema movement, and one of the most talented directors who appeared at the time was Hsiao-hsien Hou.” “… his sense of pace, the physical intensity of his shots, the suggestive strength in the apparebtly indifferent way he filmed even the most simple situations”. “Then there is the second story, concerning the inevitable moment when a nation needs its cinema to tell itself and the world its own tale - its collective autobiography, so to speak. In 1989 the vanishing of the military dictatorship which ruled the island for 40 years presented filmmakers the opportunity to tell the recent story of Taiwan.”
4.Guling Jie Shaonian Sha Ren Shijian (A Brighter Summer Day)
1991/Taiwan/237m/Mandarin/Dir:Edward Yang
“Edward Yang’s subtle and rich portrait of Taiwan fits so many details into its deceptively brisk four-hour running time that it’s a wonder Yang delivered the film as short as it is.” “The direction is patient and serene; the film is like a masterful symphony of dozens of characters whose tone and tempo are deftly orchestrated by Yang.” “A masterpiece of the Taiwanese New Wave … this is a film whose grasp of period and place is masterful beyond the realm of mere storytelling.”
5.Hismeng Jensheng (The Puppetmaster)
1993/Taiwan/142m/Mandarin-Taiwanese-Japanese/Dir:Hou Hsiao-hsien
“Director … has an unhurried style, with long shots that calmly observe the interaction of the characters.”
6.Hsi Yen (The Wedding Banquet)
1993/Taiwan-US/106m/Mandarin-English/Dir:Ang Lee
“A clever and entertaining social comedy that helped to establish him as a commercial director long before such more obvious mainstream crowd pleasers as The Ice Storm and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”.
7.Yi Yi (A One and a Two)
2000/Taiwan/173m/Mandarin-Hokkien/Dir:Edward Yang
“Edward Yang’s most accessible movie and probably his best since A Brighter Summer Day”. “He interweaves shifting viewpoints and poignant emotional refrains, creating one of the richest family portraits in modern cinema”.
8.Ni Neibian Jidian (What Time is it There?)
2001/Taiwan/116m/Mandarin-Taiwanese-French/Dir:Ming-liang Tsai
“In Many ways … Tsai’s most exciting and original film to date.” “the intricate formal rhyme schemes devised by Tsai … are even more inventive than those in ‘The Hole’.”
[quote=“Stray Dog”]Ghosted has a great cast–all really good-looking . . .
[/quote]
That’s a picture of me, I’m the white dude on the left. I did the English training for Gao Jie and LuYi Jing, and tutored Ke Huan Ru for awhile. They asked me to be in a scene, so I’m in one of the opening scenes.
Edit: The movie almost feels like a commercial for Taiwan in parts. It’s not too shabby, but a bit confusing.
Double edit:
// German woman in Taipei falls in love with a Taiwanese woman. Things happen, the Taiwanese woman dies, German woman spends the whole movie trying to figure out what happened, and appease the Taiwanese woman’s spirit.
cool. in a nutshelll what is the movie bout?
Bu Lai En, an impressive list, but you left out my two favourites!
The Hole and Goodbye South Goodbye!
HG
Some great suggestions here, thank you. I’ll try to watch one a week over the next few months.
Thanks, I’ll try to watch some too.
I am afraid this doesn’t count :no-no:
I’m gonna put in a vote for one currently showing, called Pinoy Sunday.
We saw it tonight and both enjoyed it very much. It’s only showing for a couple weeks AFAIK so if you don’t hurry you might miss it. There’s more info on it over in this thread)
I watched Millenium Mambo again just last week. Pretty good; took me back to the days of Spin and the like. Of course Shu Qi is always nice to look at, even when she is telling her scumbag gangster boyfriend to leave her alone.
Bu Lai En’s list is great. Here are five Taiwanese movies released in the last few years that I think are notable and worth seeking out.
Eternal Summer 盛夏光年
No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti 不能沒有你
Orz Boyz 囧男孩
Tears 眼淚
Parking 停車
I think Cape No. 7 was probably the most overrated Taiwanese movie ever, although I understand the reasons for its success. The more recent hit Monga was pretty good though.
I agree with Wix. Orz Boyz and Parking were both very good. My list above was just Taiwanese films from a couple of other lists. I’m still mulling over my personal list 
I saw Tears last night. Quite enjoyed it until I fell asleep.
[quote=“Bu Lai En”]There’s A LOT of good Taiwanese films.
Anything by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang and Tsai Ming-liang, for starters (and that makes about 40). Then there must be a couple of dozen films that come out EVERY YEAR of which at least a few are decent.
It’s hard for me to think of a top ten (I might try later), but here’s a couple from other lists:
Taiwanese films from the Hong Kong Film Award 100 Best Chinese Movies (2005) (in order, I think):
City of Sadness (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
Dragon Gate Inn (King Hu)
A Touch of Zen (King Hu)
A Brighter Summer Day (Edward Yang)
The Time to Live and the Time to Die (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
The Terrorizers (Edward Yang)
The Winter
Yi-Yi (Edward Yang)
Po Xiao Shi Fen
Raining in the Mountain
The Wedding Banquet (Ang Lee)
Dust in the Wind (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
Taipei Story (Edward Yang)
Execution in Autumn
Rebels of the Neon God (Tsai Ming-liang)
The Puppet Master (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
If I put the director in brackets, that means I’ve seen it, and you should be able to find it somewhere. I think all of those are truly excellent movies.
The book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die has 8 Taiwanese movies. Here they are with a little from the blurbs which i used in an earlier post (chronological order):
1.Hsia Nu (A Touch of Zen)
1969/Taiwan/200m/Color/Mandarin/Dir:King Hu
“A Touch of Zen is considered a benchmark in Chinese cinema”. “At three hours, the pace is surprisingly brisk, because this is a movie that’s genuinely unpredictable. You’re just waiting for what’s going to happen next”. "Hu understood that films were experienced with the senses and he fills the CinemaScope frame with a constant swirl of color and movement. Honing his craft on several previous wuxia films, A Touch of Zen stands as the zenith of Hu’s career’.
2.Tong Nian Wang Shi (The Time to Live and the Time to Die)
1985/Taiwan/138m/Mandarin/Dir:Hsiao-hsien Hou
“The direction … is understated, reflective and measured, in the Ozu style, making all the more devastatingly powerful the paroxysms of agonized emotion when they are eventually allowed to ignite the screen. The film is a work of remarkable maturity, assurance and clarity.”
3.Beijing Chengshi (A City of Sadness)
1989/Taiwan/157m/Taiwanese-Mandarin-Japanese/Dir:Hsiao-hsien Hou
“There are two separate stories to tell here. One is this wonderful story which happens sometimes, somewhere, most of the time unpredictably: The rise of a New Wave, of an artistic movement in a country, and of the emergence of one or two exceptionally talented filmmakers. This occurred in the 1980s in Taiwan with the New Cinema movement, and one of the most talented directors who appeared at the time was Hsiao-hsien Hou.” “… his sense of pace, the physical intensity of his shots, the suggestive strength in the apparebtly indifferent way he filmed even the most simple situations”. “Then there is the second story, concerning the inevitable moment when a nation needs its cinema to tell itself and the world its own tale - its collective autobiography, so to speak. In 1989 the vanishing of the military dictatorship which ruled the island for 40 years presented filmmakers the opportunity to tell the recent story of Taiwan.”
4.Guling Jie Shaonian Sha Ren Shijian (A Brighter Summer Day)
1991/Taiwan/237m/Mandarin/Dir:Edward Yang
“Edward Yang’s subtle and rich portrait of Taiwan fits so many details into its deceptively brisk four-hour running time that it’s a wonder Yang delivered the film as short as it is.” “The direction is patient and serene; the film is like a masterful symphony of dozens of characters whose tone and tempo are deftly orchestrated by Yang.” “A masterpiece of the Taiwanese New Wave … this is a film whose grasp of period and place is masterful beyond the realm of mere storytelling.”
5.Hismeng Jensheng (The Puppetmaster)
1993/Taiwan/142m/Mandarin-Taiwanese-Japanese/Dir:Hou Hsiao-hsien
“Director … has an unhurried style, with long shots that calmly observe the interaction of the characters.”
6.Hsi Yen (The Wedding Banquet)
1993/Taiwan-US/106m/Mandarin-English/Dir:Ang Lee
“A clever and entertaining social comedy that helped to establish him as a commercial director long before such more obvious mainstream crowd pleasers as The Ice Storm and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”.
7.Yi Yi (A One and a Two)
2000/Taiwan/173m/Mandarin-Hokkien/Dir:Edward Yang
“Edward Yang’s most accessible movie and probably his best since A Brighter Summer Day”. “He interweaves shifting viewpoints and poignant emotional refrains, creating one of the richest family portraits in modern cinema”.
8.Ni Neibian Jidian (What Time is it There?)
2001/Taiwan/116m/Mandarin-Taiwanese-French/Dir:Ming-liang Tsai
“In Many ways … Tsai’s most exciting and original film to date.” “the intricate formal rhyme schemes devised by Tsai … are even more inventive than those in ‘The Hole’.”[/quote]
I haven’t put a list together but Vive L’Amour by Tsai Ming-liang is one of my favorite. It isn’t for everyone but it hit me at the right time to make an impact.
I like “Wedding banquet” but I like “Eat, drink, man, woman” and “Pushing hands” more.
I haven’t seen 1 and 2 but I have #3 and it is probably considered the “best” movie made here. I’m going to search out 1 and 2. Thanks Bu Lai En.
Au Revoir TAipei wins golden durian award in Spain. Golden Durian???
chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/arts … e-film.htm
Did any of you see it?