Keeping Watch 沉睡的青春 (Deep sleep of youth) (Taiwan, 2007)

This is an indie romance with charming and sweet elements and a major twist. It's about a watch repairwoman who inherits the job after graduating from high school, presumably because her alcoholic father is too irresponsible to carry on the job.

A guy starts showing up every day to have his watched repaired after repeatedly getting it soaked in water. Turns out that he is a mental patient with a split personality, and as the history of his mental illness unravels, so does her involvement in his/their life/lives.

It's a quiet, pastoral movie set in the rural mountainous regions of Taipei County, southeast of Taipei city, where life is quieter and much more relaxed. There are some allowable inconsistencies in the plot (the time span, ironically, makes no sense as the characters are clearly not long graduated from high school).

The female lead carries the film wonderfully, and the male lead is terrific differentiating his dual personalities. This is a very strong indie offering from Taiwan, even though it really doesn't say anything about any of the issues it possibly touches. It's more about mood, and the sweet, charming touches are nice without being gooey. I give it a fresh, strong 7 out of 10 tomatoes. I considered giving it an 8, but it's a little bit lightweight to push it up. It needed just a little bit more emotional resonance.