The ninth annual Asian Film Festival of Dallas opens on Friday with a
special premiere presentation of Au Revoir Taipei, the debut feature
from Arvin Chen. Is it a worthwhile debut? Read on...
Au Revoir Taipei follows a lovesick Kai through a crazy night as he attempts to reconnect with a former love that has flown off to Paris to study. Kai is about the most pathetic character you can conjure.The film opens on him sending his girlfriend off to the airport to fly away, and everyone watching the film knows that this is goodbye except Kai.In fact, he begins loitering in a local book store, learning French from borrowed books in the honest expectation that they will rendezvous in Paris and resume their happily ever after.Using a tool possibly borrowed from one of the great romantic films about unrequited love, Chungking Express, Kai even leaves seemingly ignored phone messages with his girlfriend, Faye, in French to show her how dedicated he is to their relationship, not unlike Officer 223's internal monologue regarding his girlfriend May.Neither of the characters gets a response like they hope, but they do both end up spending a crazy night with a girl they'd never thought of.
One night Kai actually gets to talk to Faye, who informs him what we've known all along, that it is over between them.Showing the same determination that propelled him to learn French, Kai goes to a local mob boss to borrow some cash to fly to Paris and change Faye's mind. The boss agrees on the condition that Kai transports an item to Paris, Kai sees this as a fair trade and agrees.Throw in some misunderstandings, conniving mob underlings, random meetings on the street with friends, a girl with a crush, and some police surveillance, and you've got a busy night.
While Kai is the protagonist in this film, he is surrounded by interesting and dynamic supporting characters, each of whom has their own story, and their moment in the spotlight. There is Brother Bao, a local mob heavy looking to get out of the game for love who needs something from Kai. There is Hong, Bao's nephew who is anxious to inherit his uncle's business and just impatient enough to make a mistake that will propel all involved in to a chaotic, but entertaining, night. There is Susie; the bookstore clerk who first pities and then comes to pine for the sad lovesick puppy camped out on the floor of her workplace learning French. Ji-yong is a cop staking out Brother Bao's operation and looking for his one chance to break his case with a back-story of his own and something to prove. Each of these characters has a plot, a motivation, and a clear reason for existing in the film. We spend enough time with them that by the end we care what happens to them, and that is refreshing. To be honest, if the story revolved solely around Kai, I don't think it would be worth watching. He's a bit boring. It is the circumstances that make this film hum.
Oh, I almost forgot the last major character: Taipei. I don't know a lot about Taiwan or Taipei, but this film makes the city come alive. The back alleys, the sidewalk restaurants, the seedy underworld, it is all there on display and it is all alive. The cinematography is wonderful and brings another neon-lit Southeast Asian city to life, as has been done so successfully in other films, like the aforementioned Chungking Express.
Au Revoir Taipei is like a great screwball caper film. Boy and girl brought together through unusual circumstances find love in the middle of a chaotic chase, caught between the bad guys and the good guys and never quite finding themselves fully aligned with either. They somehow make it out okay, maybe better than okay.
Au Revoir Taipei follows a lovesick Kai through a crazy night as he attempts to reconnect with a former love that has flown off to Paris to study. Kai is about the most pathetic character you can conjure.The film opens on him sending his girlfriend off to the airport to fly away, and everyone watching the film knows that this is goodbye except Kai.In fact, he begins loitering in a local book store, learning French from borrowed books in the honest expectation that they will rendezvous in Paris and resume their happily ever after.Using a tool possibly borrowed from one of the great romantic films about unrequited love, Chungking Express, Kai even leaves seemingly ignored phone messages with his girlfriend, Faye, in French to show her how dedicated he is to their relationship, not unlike Officer 223's internal monologue regarding his girlfriend May.Neither of the characters gets a response like they hope, but they do both end up spending a crazy night with a girl they'd never thought of.
One night Kai actually gets to talk to Faye, who informs him what we've known all along, that it is over between them.Showing the same determination that propelled him to learn French, Kai goes to a local mob boss to borrow some cash to fly to Paris and change Faye's mind. The boss agrees on the condition that Kai transports an item to Paris, Kai sees this as a fair trade and agrees.Throw in some misunderstandings, conniving mob underlings, random meetings on the street with friends, a girl with a crush, and some police surveillance, and you've got a busy night.
While Kai is the protagonist in this film, he is surrounded by interesting and dynamic supporting characters, each of whom has their own story, and their moment in the spotlight. There is Brother Bao, a local mob heavy looking to get out of the game for love who needs something from Kai. There is Hong, Bao's nephew who is anxious to inherit his uncle's business and just impatient enough to make a mistake that will propel all involved in to a chaotic, but entertaining, night. There is Susie; the bookstore clerk who first pities and then comes to pine for the sad lovesick puppy camped out on the floor of her workplace learning French. Ji-yong is a cop staking out Brother Bao's operation and looking for his one chance to break his case with a back-story of his own and something to prove. Each of these characters has a plot, a motivation, and a clear reason for existing in the film. We spend enough time with them that by the end we care what happens to them, and that is refreshing. To be honest, if the story revolved solely around Kai, I don't think it would be worth watching. He's a bit boring. It is the circumstances that make this film hum.
Oh, I almost forgot the last major character: Taipei. I don't know a lot about Taiwan or Taipei, but this film makes the city come alive. The back alleys, the sidewalk restaurants, the seedy underworld, it is all there on display and it is all alive. The cinematography is wonderful and brings another neon-lit Southeast Asian city to life, as has been done so successfully in other films, like the aforementioned Chungking Express.
Au Revoir Taipei is like a great screwball caper film. Boy and girl brought together through unusual circumstances find love in the middle of a chaotic chase, caught between the bad guys and the good guys and never quite finding themselves fully aligned with either. They somehow make it out okay, maybe better than okay.
This is one of the great things about the Asian
Film Festival of Dallas. Unlike a lot of other festivals covered
extensively on ScreenAnarchy, they aren't just a genre festival. In this
festival, a sweet, charming film like Au Revoir Taipei can sit next to
Robogeisha and both find their niche. We all win.
Au Revoir Taipei is the Asian Film Festival of Dallas' Opening Night feature and screens at 7:00 PM on Friday, July 23rd at the Magnolia Theater in Dallas. Don't miss it!
Au Revoir Taipei is the Asian Film Festival of Dallas' Opening Night feature and screens at 7:00 PM on Friday, July 23rd at the Magnolia Theater in Dallas. Don't miss it!
Also, opening the festival at 2:00 PM on Friday is
Johnnie To's wonderful pickpocket film, Sparrow; and following Au
Revoir Taipei, Anthony Wong stars in Wong Jing's I Corrupt All Cops at
9:10 and the evening closes with the crowd pleasing Robogeisha at
11:50. Something for everybody!