Story in Taipei explained
Story in Taipei should not be confused with Taipei Story.
| Story in Taipei |
| Director: | Huang Ying-hsiung |
| Native Name: | | Child: | yes | | Hide: | no | | Header: | none | | T: | 台北物語 | | S: | 台北物语 | | L: | Taipei monogatari | | P: | Táiběi wùyǔ |
|
| Runtime: | 118 minutes |
| Country: | Taiwan |
| Language: | Chinese
Taiwanese |
Story in Taipei (; also translated as Story of Taipei) is a 2017 Taiwanese film written and directed by Huang Ying-hsiung (黃英雄). It has been described as Taiwan's first cult film,[1] of the "so bad it's good" type.[2]
Plot
The somewhat convoluted plot involves a thief who steals a taxi, which is then boarded by a passenger. They are involved in an accident with a drunk-driving politician, who is having an affair with his assistant. Fearing scandal, he offers to buy the taxi and pay NT$500,000 in exchange for silence. The taxi-driving thief and his passenger try to blackmail the politician for more money. Unknown to them all, there is a person in the taxi's boot. The politician's wife, a doctor, starts investigating her husband's activities. At the end, all characters meet and a lot of issues are revealed, including that some other subplots were just made up stories.
Cast
- Su Yinan (蘇尹男) as lawmaker Ke Xien
- Chen Yi-an (陳怡安) as Sun Ying, his wife
- (李宓) as Guo Xinchun, his assistant
- Oscar Chiu (邱志宇) as Tony, Sun Ying's colleague
- (張哲豪) as Lin Xiaoqing, the thief
- Fu Peiling (傅佩玲) as Lin Qiuhong, the passenger who blackmails Ke Xien
- Fang Shengqiu (方升暘) as Ke's assistant
- Kang Luqi (康祿祺) as a builder
Reception
After opening in just three theaters in 2017, the film quickly became a social media phenomenon because of its flaws.[3] It achieved more than NT$5 million in box office receipts and played for 38 days.[2] It has been described as the lowest quality film in Taiwanese history[4] and compared to The Room.[5]
Notes and References
- Web site: 越爛越賣？《台北物語》5大荒謬奇幻之旅 . Eric . zh:GQ瀟灑男人網 . zh-Hant-TW . 2019-07-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190728061717/https://www.gq.com.tw/entertainment/movie/content-32443.html . 2019-07-28 . live .
- Web site: Taiwan's amazing answer to 'The Room' . Popula . en-US . 2019-07-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190521123728/https://popula.com/2018/09/30/brian-hioe/ . 2019-05-21 . live .
- Web site: Story in Taipei becomes a cult hit in Taiwan . 2017-06-01 . Asia in Cinema . en . 2019-07-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190727193211/https://asiaincinema.com/2017/06/01/story-of-taipei-becomes-a-cult-hit-in-taiwan/ . 2019-07-27 . live .
- Web site: Story in Taipei (2017) by Huang Ying-hsiung . Asian Film Vault . 2019-07-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190727193212/http://www.asianfilmvault.com/2017/07/story-of-taipei-2017-by-huang-ying.html . 2019-07-27 . live .
- Web site: A new classic of so-bad-it's-good cinema has emerged from Taiwan . Colburn . Randall . . October 2018 . en-US . 2019-07-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190727193210/https://news.avclub.com/a-new-classic-of-so-bad-its-good-cinema-has-emerged-fro-1829439310 . 2019-07-27 . live .
