Discovering Taiwan

Gossamer of moody blue lights hangs over the Taiwan of Chi Y Lee’s Chocolate Rap,which was screened at the recently concluded Taiwan Film Festival in Nandan. It’s a film about a young Taiwanese boy’s obsession with dance,but it’s also a celebration of the beautiful island. Each,frame is imbued with a sense of history and the narrative gives us a sense of the socio-political fabric of the society.

The protagonist of the film,Choco, and his friends,love to dance. However,in order to perfect their skills they need to find a proper place to practice. They soon procure a studio in which to practice their routines,the crew draws the ire of their beautiful upstairs neighbor Ally,a pianist who wants to make it big and resents all the ruckus from down below. Later,as internal rivalry threatens to break apart the brotherhood of dancers,Choco finds his rise to fame suddenly halted by a serious car accident. Subsequently forced to give up his dreams of dancing and reevaluate his future,the shattered dancer agrees to pass along his secrets to ambitious up and comer King Kong,who longs to become a legendary dancer. Choco and friends wear incredibly hep clothes,they dance to hip-hop music and flash an attitude which would put any Miami youngster to shame,yet they come back home to serve sticky rice to their parents and bow down in front of Buddha statues. These youngsters who negotiate Westernization with consummate ease represent the new face of Asia.

Similarly,Cape No 7,which is the highest-grossing Taiwanese film ever,celebrates rural Taiwan with heart-touching sincerity and more importantly talks about the country’s affinity towards art and music in the most touching way. Using two parallel tracks,the film talks about the people of a remote island called Henuchen which was under Japanese occupation till 1940s. The first track is about a Japanese teacher who falls in love with a local girl but is forced to leave the island after the surrender of Japan in the 1940s.

The second track is set in contemporary times and is about the travails of the island natives who have to put together a local rock band before the arrival of a Japanese pop star in their village.

Heartwarming and brilliantly shot both these films make you want to discover Taiwan.