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An Island's Reflection

JapanKristina, International School of the Sacred Heart
December 15, 2011

OPINION

In the summer of 2011, the film “You Are the Apple of My Eye” caused an immense sensation on the island of Taiwan. The storyline is based on a real-life romance the author experienced when he was in high school. Back then, the protagonist’s life revolved around hanging out with friends and playing immature jokes on people. In a typical turn of events, a girl enters his life. As he undergoes the transformation from boy to man, his feelings for her only grow stronger. Years later, he receives an invitation to her wedding. At the wedding, he and his high school friends nostalgically reminisce and realize that their adolescent years are now truly over.
This movie was highly anticipated, and the box office earnings exceeded 100 million TWD, equivalent to 254 million JPY. Just four days after its release, “You Are the Apple of My Eye” broke the record for highest box office earnings for a national movie in Taiwan.
National movies have always taken a back seat to Hollywood movies in Taiwan. Larger and more affluent sponsors are willing to invest in a profitable Hollywood production. With this money in hand, Hollywood producers are able to afford the state-of-the-art effects and equipment, which promise a movie’s success. They can also recruit internationally renowned actors and actresses for the cast, and widely advertise before the film is released. All this buildup of anticipation contributes toward the ultimate numbers in the box office.
However appealing the glamorous shell of Hollywood movies may be, national movies in Taiwan are not necessarily inferior in quality. In addition, national movies typically shoot many scenes at locally renowned or traditional spots in Taiwan. Many bits and pieces of Taiwanese culture are seen in the movie: street vendors, lanterns, night markets, traditional shopping streets, and local shrines. This helps publicize these cultural attractions to foreigners, and at the same time allows Taiwanese people an opportunity to appreciate and reflect on their island.
Unfortunately, national movies generally receive a lukewarm response from the audience. They are not as “shiny” and “flashy” as Hollywood movies. Taiwan’s population is fairly small compared to the U.S., and a small percentage of people are interested in national movies. A vicious cycle is then formed: from low publicity to low excitement to low box office numbers to fewer sponsors willing to invest in more national movies.
Coincidentally, less than a month after the hit of “You Are the Apple of My Eye”, “Seediq Bale” set another box office record in Taiwan. Two box office hits in the same year may indicate that national movies are gradually becoming more mainstream.
Director Giddens Ko announced in late September that “You Are the Apple of My Eye” will have its first international release in Hong Kong. Additionally, it participated in the 24th Annual Tokyo International Film Festival. The movie screened twice during the festival, held in the last week of October.
While these are positive signs, the movie was not nominated for the festival’s competition, and is still striving towards wider distribution. There is still a long way to go until national movies truly become accepted by a world-wide audience.

The photograph shows Cinema 4 at HOYTS, Forest Hill Shopping Centre, Forest Hill, Victoria, Australia. The image is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license, © Fernando de Sousa.

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Tags: culture, taiwan

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