Dir: Chung Mong-hong. Taiwan, 2008. 112 min.
A man is rushing back home to his wife but a double-parked car blocks his way. He searches in vain for the driver and encounters a variety of persons who cannot or do not want to help him. When he finally gets home the next morning, he is a different person - not only because he is adorned with a gigantic black eye, but because he has learned to see the world differently.
Moving confidently from one episode to the next and one style to another in the tracks of his main character, director/cinematographer Chung Mong-hong has made a distinctive calling card here, smartly zipping through the different genres from tearjerker to gangster. Though not 100 percent convincing by itself as a story, such reservations fade in the light of strong performances from a solid ensemble cast with impeccable credentials, including some of the better known faces in Taiwan and Hong Kong cinema. Arthouse seems likely, and perhaps more in Asia where handsome lead actor Chen Chang is a sought-after name. Undoubtedly, Chung Mong-hong has established himself as a name to watch here and his next will be eagerly-awaited - if only to work out which genre he’ll plump for.
Once Chen Mo (Crouching Tiger’s Chen Chang) parks his car next to a patisserie called Cream (just like the film’s production company), troubles start to pour in, one after the other. First he offends the sales lady, then he finds out he can’t leave because someone has double parked next to him. This being Mothers’ Day in Taipei, the police are too busy to help. In his efforts to unearth the owner of the vehicle and convince him to move it away, he stumbles upon an old couple and their grandaughter; a former Chinese cop turned ruthless pimp (Leon Dai) and one of the girls he exploits (former model Peggy Tseng); a one-armed barber (Jack Kao) cooking fish-head soup; and an unemployed tailor (Chapman To) on the run from the mafia, to name but a few. In every case, there is an expansion plus flashbacks to support the characters.
Chen Mo’s story is the focus, however, and the script introduces in flashback his wife (Kwai Mei-Lun) and the marital problems they are facing.
Suddenly cutting from one episode to the next, Chung’s film unblinkingly switches from sheer sentimental melodrama (the blind old woman who was never told her son had been executed for murder) to slapstick comedy (Chen Mo and the dead fish he finds in the sink of the barbershop toilet). There’s also lurid sex scenes, and, for good measure, a few comments on the economic troubles in China which have driven many into Taiwan looking for work.
As a story by itself, this doesn’t really gel. But veterans like Jack Kao and Chapman To in supporting roles next to Chen Chang’s solid performance in the lead propel this film through any bumps.
Production companies
Cream Production
International Sales
Cream Production
+ 886-2-7668610
Producers
Tseng Shao-chien
Jane H. Hsiao
Screenplay
Chung Mong-hong
Director of photography
Chung Mong-hong
Production designer
Chao Shih-hao
Editor
Lo Shih-ching
Music
An Dong
Main cast:
Chen Chang
Kwai Lun-mei
Leon Dai
Jack Kao
Chapman To
Peggy Tseng
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