Cape No 7 《海角七号》

[Jialihai Jiejie]

Has anyone seen this film yet?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=YW_JNgcfnjg&feature=related

It's a bit like Titanic (Taiwanese/ Japanese version) + Nana ナナ (Japanese)?! He he...

Do you think so?

你觉得吗？

そう思う？

Check it out yourself!

Titanic

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GSuvBmnhm0Y&feature=related

Nana

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aRniadD9IDo

Another funny fact, Nana also means seven in Japanese. So it's clear why they named it 《海角七号》! Ha ha

Jialihai Jiejie

[risandres]

I've seen this movie here in Taiwan. Taiwanese really got crazy with this movie, it took two days to go to the theatre to find a seat in a corner, and it was 1 month and half after release and they were playing unless in three rooms!

I don't find any similar in the movie to Titanic, I haven't seen Nana to have an opinion.

About the movie, I really liked it and enjoyed it, but the locals totally loved it, the comments are the kind of "is not a better movie in the history". Of course, this is not my opinion. But it is a good movie.

And it is also a special movie, it is neither a Hollywood nor Taiwan super production. In fact, the director personally asked a loan to get the money for the movie, it is his first movie, and he luckily earned the enough money to payback the loan (and a lot of more, I think). The movie became so famous in Taiwan because of the peers, not because of advertisement. From beginning of September I listened Taiwanese friends and Teachers recommended the movie, so I finally went to see.

The story is easy, about the creation of a band of music in Kenting (the Southest of Taiwan and a beach resort area and National Park) with local people to play before of the start of the concert of a Japanese start. And this is mixed with and old story of a Japanese teacher leaving Taiwan after second World War.

An very important note is they mix in the movie dialogues in Chinese, Taiwanese and Japanese. Japanese is the fewest, and Chinese and Taiwanese is fifty-fifty.

For me it isn't a problem because is the normal life in Taiwan, specially in the South were I am living now, where the youngest speak Chinese and the oldest Taiwanese. And the movie has subtitles in Chinese and English, so is not a problem.

[ABCinChina]

I bought it on DVD for 5元. It was pretty good.

[skylee]

I saw this film at a HK cinema today. I think the story is original and the film is well made. It is generally a nice film and one would not feel the money and time spent on it wasted. Personally, though, I don't think I like it very much. It is good, but I just don't fall for it. Unlike the Secret (a very commercial film) which I liked instantly, I can only say, 'oh I saw it, it is good', and no more.

The film is not romantic enough imho, because the most romantic story is not that between the male lead and female lead, and it is told by narration.

And I got this strange feeling at the end of the film - ”oh it is like 日本台灣人民大團結“. Actually what I felt was that the film seemed to imply that taiwan people (at least some of them) identified so much with the Japanese. And it didn't feel good. But who am I to judge? Some people might feel that HK people identify with the British too much.

I like Fan Yichen (the leading actor) though. I can't really resist anyone with nice dimples.

[Lu]

I haven't seen the movie and I don't want to make a judgment on Taiwanese and Japanese people, but imo it's a fact that some Taiwanese people identify with Japan. Partly it's the pop culture, partly it's nostalgia for the Japanese occupation (personally I don't think this makes sense, but some people do feel this way), and perhaps it's also partly the 'We're not Chinese [and so we turn to Japan instead of China]' line of thought.

[Lu]

I saw this movie yesterday. I really liked it up until

they had sex

, after that it was just ok, a bit too sentimental for my taste. But Taiwanese like sentimental, so I understand they loved it.

The main story was fun. I didn't really get the story that took place in the past, was watching with a friend and in the end we both didn't really understand what had happened there. He was Japanese (or was he?), she was Taiwanese even though her name was Tomoko, and when the Japanese left, so did he. But why didn't he take her with him? I suppose it was in the letters, but there were too many birds and waves and rainbows in there for my taste, and I lost interest so didn't pay much attention.

And I also see why China wouldn't like it, this movie is so utterly Taiwanese, from the first minute to the last! I got quite homesick. The scooters, the 7-11, the pink plastic cups at the wedding; the languages that everyone spoke to one another; the fame of a Japanese pop star (as opposed to an American)... And it had something for everybody: Taiwanese (obviously), Hakka, Aboriginals, Japanese, foreigners (those last two categories overlapped, of course)... The only thing hardly present at all was 50 years of KMT rule, the only hint of that was the banner at the end, Guangfu something. This movie is build partly on nostalgia for the Japanese rule, and China resents hearing that Taiwanese harbour such nostalgia at all.

[wix]

According to a report from Reuters Cape No. 7 will be released in China on 14 February 2009, Valentine's Day.

[wix]

Has anybody in China been to see it? How was the reaction there?