Title - 18x2 Beyond Youthful Days {Qing Chun 18x2 Tong Wang You Ni De Lu Cheng}
Production - Babel Label, Happinet Phantom Studios, Jumpboys Films
Starring - Greg Hsu Han, Kiyohara Kaya, Chang Hsiao Chuan, Michieda Shunsuke, Kitamura Toyoharu, Buffy Chen, Figaro Tseng, Liao Hui Jen, Chu Chung Heng, Lee Kuan Yi, Kuroki Haru, Kuroki Hitomi
Writer - Fujii Michihito, Hayashida Hirokawa
Director - Fujii Michihito
Release - 14 March 2024
Directed by a Japanese director, no wonder the movie played out to be more of a Japanese style than Taiwanese, but that kind of style really suited the story.
A little contrived and overblown in certain parts, like the fall-out in the beginning of the movie for Greg Hsu's character; but I found the most intriguing parts were the journey and the meeting of random people in it.
Hsu played two different characters, an impetuous youth and a more grounded adult, both were very well done. A big part of the story revolved around the karaoke joint, and I would have liked to see more of the characters there rather than just the focus between Hsu and Kiyohara Kaya's characters.
There was really nice cinematography, in both Japan and Taiwan parts; but the most impressive one was the shot of the train coming out of a tunnel and greeted by a white landscape of snow. It really made me want to follow in the character's footsteps.
This movie was actually adapted from someone's travelogue, but has gone through multiple rewrites since then to expand on the story and plots. And left me thinking, why even buy the rights at all if the studio was just going to make it a completely different story to the original?
Still, though, Fujii's vision actually came out really well done.
No comments:
Post a Comment