In that like a relationship there are good and bad parts, but eventually the bad parts are too many and you must break up. Then as time passes and it's not so fresh you look back and can only remember the good parts, but if you really stop to think hard than the bad memories will come back. A lot of Taiwanese movies will be about some great idea or have some good review and I'll be excited to see them, but when I'm watching them, I'm usually not enjoying them. I'm more looking forward to the time when it's over and a few weeks have gone by and I just look back and think of the good parts of the movie.
The picture above is from one such movie. It's from a movie called "Yi Yi" in Chinese, or "A One and a Two" in English. It's about a somewhat typical Taiwanese family and their struggles dealing with the issues in their lives. I wouldn't say that it's necessarily typical of all Taiwanese, as it's a more movie version of what is an average family. The movie does touch on a lot of issues that Taiwanese face and various traditions and customs. The main character is not so realistic, he is more an idealized version of what the director wishes Taiwanese men would be. While the actors who are not part of the family are very one note.
Given all that, enough time has gone by that I can say if somebody were curious what life is like in Taiwan, this would be a good movie to start with. There are definitely slow parts, and at times the movie is a bit overly harsh towards Taiwanese, but still it's a good representation of the way life is here. I'm also curious if you would find it more engrossing than I did. Before I came to Asia, I adored every minute of even the worst Asian movie, as it was looking in on a different culture, but living here now I have no patience for poor movies. This movie has it's good parts, but definitely could have benefited from not being three hours long.
The picture above is of both how amazing I am and how terrible I am. It's the apartment building of the family in the film. While watching the movie I said "i know where that is!" My friend was skeptical as it looks like a hundred other buildings in the city. Eventually walking in that area I stumbled across it and took a picture. On the one hand I was quite proud that I could pick out the building from a movie even though I had only walked by this area maybe twice in the past eight years and it really does look like tons of other places in the city. On the other hand it upset me as I was able to pick out this building but it's extremely difficult for me to remember Chinese. Sigh...
