Taiwan
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When director Tsou Shih-ching was a child in Taiwan, her grandfather scolded her for using her left hand, calling it “the devil’s hand”. She vividly remembers the “sense of guilt”,… Read More
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Taiwanese screen goddess Shu Qi draws from her experiences working with Hou Hsiao-hsien for her semi-autobiographical directorial debut, a tough yet rewarding story of a young girl growing up in… Read More
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Netflix’s latest Taiwanese drama series, Had I Not Seen the Sun, follows a convicted serial killer (played by Tseng Jing-hua) who agrees to a documentary interview after years of speculation… Read More
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Guilt proves to be a powerful trigger for a retired bomb disposal expert in the Taiwanese action thriller 96 Minutes, when his past mistakes prove every bit as deadly as… Read More
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Asian superstars Shu Qi and Angelica Lee Sinje headline The Resurrected, Netflix’s latest Taiwanese drama series, which premiered its first two episodes at the 30th Busan International Film Festival in… Read More
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Urban legends, tragic accidents and historical wrongdoings have proved a rich font of inspiration for horror filmmakers, nowhere more so than in Taiwan. The island’s tumultuous history and rapid economic… Read More
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This week sees the cinema release of Ballerina, the first in a series of planned spin-off movies from the incredibly successful John Wick action franchise. Focusing on a new character,… Read More
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Netflix advances its robust slate of female-fronted Taiwanese drama series with Forget You Not, written and directed by Rene Liu Ruo-ying and starring Hsieh Ying-xuan as a middle-aged woman who… Read More
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A young fencer wrestles with conflicting loyalties towards his mother and older brother in Singaporean filmmaker Nelicia Low’s visually arresting yet dramatically wayward feature film debut. Low is a former… Read More
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From Chinese blockbuster No More Bets to the Sandra Ng Kwan-yue-led romance Love Lies, films about the dangers of online scamming are appearing as frequently as the calls themselves of… Read More
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A widow in her sixties with a pair of estranged daughters is confronted with a difficult decision following a family tragedy in Huang Xi’s thoughtful drama Daughter’s Daughter. Winner of the… Read More
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According to Chinese symbology, those born in the Year of the Snake are often regarded as intelligent, if somewhat unscrupulous, characters. In film, however, the snake has been portrayed as… Read More
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Gwei Lun-mei and Luke Evans fail to make sparks fly in this sluggish action effort from writer-producer Luc Besson. Read More
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Show business is portrayed as a hostile work environment for women yet again in Born for the Spotlight, Netflix’s latest prestige drama series from Taiwan. Written and directed by actress Yen… Read More
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Wu Kang-ren reveals a new side to his talents as he bares all in erotic drama The Chronicles of Libidoists. Wu plays one of four lonely souls living in present-day Taipei who… Read More
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Taking its Chinese film title from Chyi Chin’s hit Taiwanese pop song from 1987, Somewhere Winter charts the faltering relationship between a Beijing university student and a Taiwanese photographer across… Read More
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The atrocities of Taiwan’s White Terror, a period of political repression, provide the chilling backdrop for John Hsu Han-chiang’s high-school horror film, for which he won the best new director… Read More
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Your wedding day should be one of the happiest days of your life, yet it can also be one of the most stressful. From the months of planning, to interfering… Read More
The James Marsh film review archive 