Holly Harrington,Permanent Resident. TPE for 8+ years. Lots of nationwide travel, including two round-island scooter trips and hops to outlying islands.Permanent Resident.
In no particular order, mostly with regards to films from the 2000s to the present:
Recent Changes
The longest lasting characteristic seems to be the high school theme, but the extremely local cultural theme seems to be taking off since Monga and Night Market Hero, the latest being Zone Pro Site. In 2014, the new film Twa-tiu-tiann (Dadaocheng) will also fall under this category, and there will probably be many more to come.
Another building trend is greater use of the Taiwanese dialect (Minnan/Hokkien) rather than Mandarin. In past years, it was mostly the older characters speaking Taiwanese, but there seem to be more and more younger characters speaking it these days. This goes hand in hand with the blue collar trend.
Finally, Taiwanese films are starting to attract bigger stars and have bigger budgets ever since Cape No. 7's success made it clear that Taiwanese people are still interested in locally made movies. Unfortunately, this also means that some films are taking on the less desirable characteristics of Hollywood films, particularly all-star casts playing clichéd characters from screenplays that are not that great to begin with. (A good example of this is actually Night Market Hero. Its love story seemed like an afterthought, and the whole film would have been far better without it.) Like in Hollywood, the focus on story is being lost, and most films are fairly forgettable once you leave the theater. Sadly, commercial concerns trump artistic vision, so as long as people continue to fill theaters to see shallow romantic comedies, shallow romantic comedies will still be made.
- A scene with the protagonist driving a scooter or motorcycle over a bridge or at least near water. (ex: Gf Bf)
- A lack of special effects, typically balanced by good storytelling, though many recent films don't seem to have either of these things.
- Old people, usually the grandparents of the protagonist.
- A scene in which someone is staring thoughtfully at some beautiful scenery, often water.(ex: The Most Distant Course)
- Gangsters. The protagonist probably has some trouble with them.(ex: Monga)(ex: Jump! Ashin)
- High school students, usually in uniform. A significant number of Taiwanese films feature teenage protagonists.(ex: The Winds of September)
- On a related note: quirky children, either as protagonists or as little brothers/sisters to the protagonist.(ex: ORZ Boyz)
- More recently: An emphasis on local culture, especially blue collar culture.(ex: Night Market Hero)(ex: Zone Pro Site)
This also includes religion & superstitions.(ex: Seven Days in Heaven) - Vignettes. There have been a number of moderately successful films comprised of shorter vignettes on a similar theme. (ex: L-O-V-E)(ex: How are you, Dad?)
- Gay/lesbian characters. A fairly common subject matter, even if it isn't the main theme.(ex: Spider Lilies)
Recent Changes
The longest lasting characteristic seems to be the high school theme, but the extremely local cultural theme seems to be taking off since Monga and Night Market Hero, the latest being Zone Pro Site. In 2014, the new film Twa-tiu-tiann (Dadaocheng) will also fall under this category, and there will probably be many more to come.
Another building trend is greater use of the Taiwanese dialect (Minnan/Hokkien) rather than Mandarin. In past years, it was mostly the older characters speaking Taiwanese, but there seem to be more and more younger characters speaking it these days. This goes hand in hand with the blue collar trend.
Finally, Taiwanese films are starting to attract bigger stars and have bigger budgets ever since Cape No. 7's success made it clear that Taiwanese people are still interested in locally made movies. Unfortunately, this also means that some films are taking on the less desirable characteristics of Hollywood films, particularly all-star casts playing clichéd characters from screenplays that are not that great to begin with. (A good example of this is actually Night Market Hero. Its love story seemed like an afterthought, and the whole film would have been far better without it.) Like in Hollywood, the focus on story is being lost, and most films are fairly forgettable once you leave the theater. Sadly, commercial concerns trump artistic vision, so as long as people continue to fill theaters to see shallow romantic comedies, shallow romantic comedies will still be made.