Beautiful Crazy 亂青春 (2008, Taiwan)
I'm not sure why, but I really loved this film. It's a little bit out there in terms of presentation, and I've been panning a lot of films that have also taken liberties in "being artistic", so I find I'm still pretty secure in myself that I can tell the difference between a crap film and a good film when a director tries to do something different. Mind you, the same can't be said about my taste in Asian pop music.

It's about a girl and her lightly-veiled "relationship" with another girl in high school, and that same girl's also-lightly-veiled "relationship" with another girl a few years later. The film is disjointed, non-linear and impressionistic, and with just the right soundtrack, the film is a lot about the feelings in the moment rather than getting anything out of the dialogue or defining characters and getting to know them.

There's no real plot. Vignettes and scenes are cut up and spread out over the film, presented out of order or have a dream-like quality. Maybe it's supposed to reflect something about the Chinese title, "chaotic youth" or "messy youth", but I don't think so.

It's not a mess, just impressionistic with a clear artistic direction. It didn't come across as amateurish or pretentious as when directors don't have a clear vision about what they want to present, and are artsy for artsy's sake.

Not having a plot to comment on, I'd say the film is about internal pain and numbness, craziness but also beauty in the details. It's a reflection on memory and love and relationships. Personal 9 out of 10 tomatoes; objective at-worst I would still give it a strong 8 out of 10.



Somewhere I Have Never Travelled 帶我去遠方 (2009, Taiwan)
This film ended up surprising me. When I first ran the DVD, I wasn't really paying attention to it, I was probably drunk, and I hated it. I was going to pan it for being amateurish and sophomoric. But then I seriously watched it and paid attention to it, and I think I got it. And what's more, I think there are things that I still didn't get (the poor English subtitling probably not helping). So I think there is more depth than I originally gave it credit for.

This is another local film without a real plot, and without a plot to comment on, I'd say this film is about yearning.

The main characters belong to one extended family, although it's not clear what their relationships are exactly – one thing I was going to pan for being ambiguous and confusing, perhaps a freshman mistake.

It also helps to know that the main girl character is color-blind – something local audiences probably knew going into the film from trailers and advertisements, but I had to figure out, and needing to figure out, I initially thought it was awkwardly done. But if you know it, it's alright because you're looking for the indications and you know what the director is trying to convey.

And the male cousin (I think – I thought it was her brother until it's made known they don't live in the same house) is gay. I don't know if local audiences are supposed to know that going into the film, but it helps to explain some eyebrow-raising weirdness in their relationship.

The family is poor, but not destitute. The grandmother/matriarch is an oppressive nag who is harmless but hardly a kind word comes out of her mouth. The father is an alcoholic street sweeper with a good heart, but whose wife left him. The sisters and aunt and uncle aren't too important.

The movie is split into two time periods: one when the girl is in elementary school and her cousin is in high school, and then it jumps to when she is in vocational school and her cousin is in college. The main theme, I would say, is being outsiders and misunderstood and yearning to get to somewhere better. Best line of the film: "You used to be naughty like a monkey, but now you're creepy like a ghost".

The acting is pretty good with two different actresses playing the girl in elementary and high schools. The older actress does a great job in conveying the complexity of her conflicted feelings, given what we know about her when she was younger.

I'm going to pass this with a fresh 7 out of 10 tomatoes, and one that I will want in my collection of local Taiwanese films that I hope make it back to my family, even if I don't. It's not a must-see for anyone, but a worthwhile film for anyone interested in Taiwanese culture and filmmaking – and Taiwan's best filmmaking in the world of filmmaking is a powerhouse as far as I'm concerned.