Au Revoir Taipei
Arvin Chen
The story: After his girlfriend Fay leaves for Paris, Kai (Jack Yao) regularly parks himself at a bookstore to learn French and soon catches the attention of salesgirl Susie (Amber Kuo). When Fay breaks up with him over the phone, he decides to borrow money from gang boss Brother Bao (veteran singer Frankie Kao Ling-feng) in order to fly to France. In return, he has to pick up a package, setting off a chain of events that leads to several wild chases all over Taipei.
Writer-director Arvin Chen’s debut feature is a sweet and charming ode to Taipei’s varied night life. The ubiquitous 24/7 convenience stores, the night markets with their delicious street food and thronging crowds, the aunties doing their mass-dance routine outdoors – they are all here.
The details do not call unnecessary attention to themselves though and instead serve as unobtrusive backdrops to an engaging caper that stands on its own merit.
Kai runs into his friend Gao (Paul Chiang) before picking up the package and they head off to the night market for a farewell meal where they bump into Susie. Meanwhile, Bao’s nephew Hong (Lawrence Ko) wants to get his hands on the package as well. Detective Ji Yong (Joseph Chang) stumbles into the picture, chasing after the package while nursing a broken heart and a bruised ego.
It seems like an awful lot is going on but Chinese-American film-maker Chen handles things with a light touch and flair. Whenever the film threatens to sag, he injects some fresh momentum into it with another bit of humour or some action.
Accordingly, Au Revoir Taipei has been well received, picking up a Netpac Award for Chen at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival while Kuo, singer and TV drama actress, was named Best New Talent at the 12th Taipei Film Festival earlier this month.
Fresh faces Yao and Kuo are sweetly tentative together as they explore their nascent attraction while trying to rescue Gao, who has been kidnapped by Hong’s henchmen.
The villains though are more comic than menacing. Bao waxes lyrical about his lady love and wants to retire while Hong and gang are all dressed in orange suits, looking like a slightly demented boyband.
The supporting cast nail their quirky roles perfectly and the 1.89m-tall model-turned-actor Chiang steals scenes as the clueless, mild-mannered and good-hearted Gao.
Au Revoir Taipei can be thought of as a companion piece to Hsiao Ya-chuan’s Taipei Exchanges, about a cafe with a sideline in barter trade. Both radiate a gentle youthful whimsy and a very palpable affection for the city of Taipei. Inevitably you wonder: Wouldn’t it be nice to have a film like that about Singapore?
(ST)