"Lonely Taste" is the box office champion of 2020 Taiwan films, released in Taiwan on November 6, 2020, and landed on the Netflix platform on February 5 this year.
Based on a true story, the film stars Chen Shufang, Xie Yingxuan, Xu Ruoxuan, Sun Kefang, Ding Ning, Long Shaohua, etc. The story revolves around the contradictions and reconciliation of the family.
The film received 6 nominations at the Golden Horse Awards for Best Screenplay, Best Newcomer Director, and Best Original Music, and finally won the Best Actress Award.
The plot of "Lonely Taste" is like the title of the film, which is endlessly evocative.
On the day of the 70-year-old Lin Xiuying's birthday banquet, her husband, who had not been seen for many years, suddenly passed away.
The daughters who came to celebrate their birthday became mourners for their fathers.
Lin Xiuying was angry because her husband irresponsibly abandoned his wife and son, and the family conflicts of that year gradually opened up with the conflict of the family.
The taste of the film comes from the narrative of life, the daily chai rice oil and salt and the bittersweet and spicy of life, and there is always a part of it that can be associated with itself. Each woman in the film has a distinct personality and a unique "lonely taste".
Lin Xiuying's complicated feelings for her husband, because of decades of separation, the memories of the husband and wife in the film are all images of youth.
From grumbling to finally signing the divorce agreement, he chose to put it down and reconcile with the past.
Lin Xiuying's feelings for her husband are memories of a good life in the past.
And Cai Meilin, who accompanied her husband Chen Bochang for more than ten years until his death, loved him now.
Lin Xiuying and Cai Meilin went from contradiction to reconciliation, and finally at the funeral, Cai Meilin appeared as Mrs. Chen, and the love was finally completed.
The eldest sister played by Xie Yingxuan has a stubborn personality, does not compromise with diseases, is bold and open in the face of feelings, and has an attitude of not seeking anything in life.
The second sister is played by Xu Ruoxuan, who studied medicine and insisted on studying in order to be recognized, and also added her obsession to her daughter.
The young daughter played by Sun Kefang lives with her mother, and her attitude towards family affection is very innocent, abandoning subjective feelings to understand Cai Meilin's love for her father, and always warming the people around her.
The lack of a father image has triggered a series of conflicts in the story, but the distinct personality and growth of the female figure in the film are more profound.
Golden Horse Award for Best Actress
Last year's Golden Horse Awards for Best Supporting Actress, Best Actress, was awarded to the same person, 82-year-old Chen Shufang.
She won two weight awards for the first time in history for "Dear Tenant" and "Lonely Taste".
It was also her first acting award in her life.
After 63 years of acting, and finally breaking out of the siege among young actors, Chen Shufang said:
"I'm not a star, I'm an actor, even if there's only one scene, one sentence, you're the protagonist."
Standing on the podium, holding two Golden Horse Trophies, he firmly said that he would welcome her to continue to act, and she would not increase her salary.
Such dedication is admirable.
In "Lonely Taste", Lin Xiuying, played by Chen Shufang, had a scene that deeply touched me.
Lin Xiuying sang the Hokkien song "Lonely Taste" alone in the taxi, and just as she was reveling in the song, the image of a young husband wearing sunglasses appeared.
Lin Xiuying's chorus from surprise to selflessness, the delicate emotional transformation is very moving.
The vacated location on the taxi echoes the fact that the husband has been absent for years.
The overlap between reality and imagination also shows that the husband still has a place in Lin Xiuying's heart.
In addition to the professional level, 2-year-old Chen Shufang's performance also has a precipitate of life experience.
The vivid performance can't help but remind people of Kiki Shirin's image in "Walking Non-Stop", and the same full screen image combines laughter and tears.
Successful localization presentation
The prototype of "Lonely Taste" is the graduation work of director Xu Chengjie in 2017, and the short film won the Golden Spike Award that year, and the heroine is Chen Shufang. Three years later, the director expanded the story into a feature film, still inviting Chen Shufang to play the role of Grandma.
When I saw the poster and the introduction, I thought of "The Diary of Sea Street" and the Hong Kong film "The Taste of Peppercorns", and there are many drama films about women and families, and some of them have similar tastes.
The merit of this film is that it does not apply a similar story to the soil, but derives a very local Taiwanese flavor.
Successful localization is inseparable from local elements, simple stories can easily fall into clichés, and the ingenuity of "Lonely Taste" is reflected in a funeral scene.
Cai Meilin brought Buddhist followers to recite the sutra, and Lin Xiuying immediately called to invite Taoist practitioners.
The Buddhist conflict is not only a contradiction between the two about the same man, but also a metaphor for the character of the two.
Cai Meilin believes in causal fate, so although she has no name, she still lives with Chen Bochang for more than ten years.
Lin Xiuying tended to the Taoist idea of inaction, and even if the two faced each other, there was no real conflict.
The three daughters and granddaughters eased up again, and the final reconciliation was achieved.
One play not only embodies the local culture, but also shows the intergenerational conflict between three generations. These are also realistic issues that family and life cannot avoid. We often see the phenomenon of dismal box office of literary and art films, but "Lonely Taste" is the highest box office of Taiwanese films in 2020. The box office miracle created by the story of an ordinary person's life is worth pondering.
【Write at the end】
Text | Akira Fujii
"Lonely Taste" is the best movie I have seen during this year's Spring Festival, affectionate, warm and restrained. Gave all the decency and comfort to the heart. Similar to "Who Fell in Love with Him First", it is men who bring great pain, but the men themselves are absent, leaving a large number of women to face. Grievances, resentment and stubbornness, until the final release is released, this is a woman's collective practice.
The director has filmed women of different ages, young and old, quite well. The ending is long and unforgettable.
And the funeral where Buddhism and Taoism coexist at the same time, it can be called the divine stroke of Chinese film history. And all the actresses in the play are praised, which deserves the biggest applause!
Seriously recommended, what a good movie.