Taipei Story

To me it is always auspicious when the name of a place is in a movie title. It means we're going to see a good bit of that place, in an intimate way. I think this theory bears out! It does in "Taipei Story," anyway. The 1985 Edward Yang film firmly embeds viewers in middle-class Taipei life. Lung, a former baseball star, and Chin, a striver, are ill-fated lovers as one clings to the past (baseball guy, of course) while the other flees it toward something better and new. This doesn't seem to make either of them very happy. It does make them pretty incompatible. I'm rooting for Chin, though. She has some hope. But she shades herself from the world with dark glasses. It's a great movie, perfectly shot, very smart, full of interesting characters who all feel very real. Definitely melancholic but really beautifully made. The lead actor is a great director in his own right. Hou Hsiao-Hsien. I'd seen another movie by Yang - Yi Yi, which was also good. But I think I liked Taipei Story more. 

Anyone who has watched an anime knows the iconography of the nostalgic swing set (especially at night). Fun to see in a movie - and this predates the anime versions!