Somewhat the midpoint between Wang Tung's incredibly funny Strawman and his utterly devastating Hill of No Return. We've moved away from the period of Taiwan's colonial rule by the Japanese and into their time as a fascist US proxy but unlike those two previous films, the critique of the brutal politics of the time are somewhat secondary to a complicated meditation on identity. Whilst I massively respect the ambition shown here it's somewhat frustrating that some fairly major dramatic conceits just don't work and lead to characters doing a lot of shit that stretches plausibility. I am seldom one for pedantry in this regard but I couldn't stop myself from thinking "wait, what?" when, for example, a woman tries to pass off what is obviously a barely literate teenager as her university educated husband. Or why she then stays with said feckless teenager when that plan doesn't pan out.The reason the above is so frustrating is because so much is done very well. Early on someone immigrates to Taiwan for simple naive reasons only to be taken in as a spy and utterly brutally tortured. The point being how the completely innocent and naive are brutalised by the machinations of fascist political apparatuses they never could have prepared for. Really strong stuff. The ability to juggle the comedic and serious is also handled very well, unsurprising given that Wang Tung has shown himself to be highly adept in both. There are great, fully fleshed out characters here. There's a point of really visceral identity crisis ladened emotional outpouring towards the end which is handled so well you almost want to forgive all the incoherent pieces it took to build to it. As a meditation on identity it's not without merit as our protagonist continues to live in another man's shoes for many decades only for the lie and reality to be less separate than you would think. There's really very clever and thoughtful filmmaking here that just desperately needed a few more script rewrites and for bits of the casting to be thought through more clearly.Freya's rating: 3.5/5
