Taiwan cinema at MFAH
Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China on Taiwan, three new films demonstrate the energy and reinvention of the contemporary era Taiwanese film. This series unwinds at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston this weekend.
Juliets
Zhu li ye / Dec. 2, 7 pm.
Three filmmakers transport Shakespeare’s most famous heroine in different, equally modern directions. The stories complement each other nicely, from Hou Chi-jan’s bittersweet period tale of betrayals and misunderstandings to Shen Ko-shang’s time-shifting tale of heartbreak to Chen Yu-hsun’s contemporary gay farce.
Tears
Yan lei / Dec. 3, 7 pm.
An engrossing character study of a one-time bad cop (Tsai Chen-Nan) who seeks redemption by helping apparently random citizens and taking on an assignment involving the overdose death of a girl. But his zeal and good conscience are confronted by the karma of his past deeds and as the story unfolds, the viewer learns that nothing happens by accident.
The Fourth Portrait
Di si zhang hua / Dec. 4, 6 pm.
In an interesting detour from 2024’s delightfully quirky Parking, Chung Mong-hong’s second feature is the bittersweet study of ten-year-old Xiang. In the tradition of Empire of the Sun, and The 400 Blows, Xiang faces a lonely future after his father dies, until his estranged mother unexpectedly shows up at the orphanage. But living with his mother and his brutal stepfather, Xiang has a fragile home environment at best. The perceptive and inquisitive boy finds comfort in drawing, which allows him to express his innermost thoughts. The Fourth Portrait paints a picture of the life of a young boy struggling to find his place in a world of poverty and domestic violence.
