What are the best Taiwanese movies in 2022?
This list of the top 10 Taiwanese films of 2022 includes blockbusters and independent films, spanning genres such as romance, comedy, and even puppetry. Narrative innovation, production quality and socio-political significance.
Let's take a look!
10. I ate that boy's breakfast for a whole year
Director: Du Zhengzhe
Starring: Zhou Xingzhe / Li Mu / He Sijing / Song Baiwei / Lou Junshuo / Li You / Huang Lifeng / Ge Cheng / Lin Hexuan / Zhang Liqing / Hong Yuqing / Chen Shufang / Yu Ziyu / Qiu Kaiwei / Liu Pinyan / Fang Zhiyou / Li Peiyu / Lin Baihong / Wu Yihan / Zhou Yutian / Tang Lun
Genre: romance film, campus romance film
"I Ate That Boy's Breakfast All Year" is adapted from a popular online post on the forum DCard, which is purportedly a true story that proves one of the most popular Taiwanese high school romance films in recent times. The film focuses on the eccentric Wei Xin and her attractive best friend Qi Lan, as well as the love quadrangular relationship between two boys, guitarist Yuanshou and swimming star Youquan.
The film's appeal comes from its whimsical depiction of adolescent adolescence, with Restoration's overactive imagination taking center stage in the narrative. As she thinks about her relationship with her best friend and love partner, she also thinks about her future as an adult, seeing all sorts of illusions of her future self.
9. You are in my heart
Director: Lim Kam Ho
Starring: Zhang Tinghu, Yuan Ziyun, Cai Zhengnan
Genres: Romance, History
In Taiwan's pre-1987 period, the ruling party was notorious for banning students from speaking dialects other than Mandarin in schools. "You Are in My Heart" creates a romantic story that spans decades based on this historical reality.
In the film, Yuan Ziyun plays a high school student named Zhao Sufen, who is chosen to promote Mandarin in her class. She often clashes with another student named Tsai, a high scorer in math who often uses the Taiwanese dialect. However, the two eventually developed feelings for each other, and the film traces how this situation developed over the next 20 years.
8. Fairy tale world
Director: Tang Furui
Starring: Zhang Xiaoquan / Li Kangsheng / Jiang Yirong / Yin Xin / Xia Yuqiao / Wang Yuping / Chen Jiamin / Cai Mingxiu / You Anshun / Wang Jianfu / You Jiaxuan / Xu Zhouli / Ren Chuyu
Genre: Law, Drama, Romance
"Fairy Tale World" stars Zhang Xiaoquan as an ambitious lawyer, Jang Zhengxu, who discovers that a senior cram school teacher he once helped (played by Lee Kangsheng, known for working with Cai Liangming) is once again accused of sexually assaulting students. Determined to seek atonement and revenge for his past lovers, Leslie Cheung embarks on a new journey of justice.
Director Tang Furui was a lawyer before directing Fairy Tale World, a film that delves into the concept of justice. While not as chilling artistry as Wu Nong's Soft Words, Fairy Tale World was also inspired by the #MeToo movement. The socially conscious film received a large number of nominations at the 2022 Taipei Film Festival and became the festival's closing film.
7. The family cooed
Director: Chen Zhenglin
Starring: Yu Anshun, Li Yugang, Yu Anshun, Yang Liyin, Yimon, Hu Zhiqiang
Genre: drama, drama
"A Family Cooing" tells the life of a Taiwanese family of workers, whose patriarch, Ah Ching, is obsessed with pigeon racing (which has historically been a popular gambling sport in Taiwan). The reappearance of a precious pigeon that disappeared seven years ago, the so-called "043", prompted Ah Ching and his family to reflect on the trajectory of their lives, since at the same time that '043' disappeared, they were haunted by the disappearance of their son.
In particular, "A Family Cooing" stands out for its attempt to show the lives of the impoverished rural working class. In addition to showing the lives of those involved in pigeon racing, including organized criminals, its protagonists engage in socially dishonorable work and embody the "Taiwanese" stereotype of Taiwanese Bunsen. Although slightly exaggerated, the film aims to achieve social realism.
6. It's true
Director: Huang Qianghua / Zheng Baopin / Wang Jiaxiang / Wang Quanxiu
Starring: Huang Wenzai
Genre: puppetry, martial arts, fantasy
In recent years, Taiwan's unique leather glove puppets have become more and more exposed internationally. Su Huan Zhen attempts to win a new audience for this classic Taiwanese martial arts television series by retelling the story of one of its most famous characters, Su Huanren.
This film tells the origin story of Su Huanren. While the storyline is fairly standard in terms of martial arts narrative, like other Piri Glove puppet shows, it stands out for its mix of CGI, pyrotechnics, and puppet tech wizards. The film effectively introduces shadow puppetry to newcomers in a modern form, while showcasing spectacular visuals that have left a lasting impression on generations in Taiwan.
5. Spells
Director: Ke Mengrong
Starring: Cai Kangyan / Huang Xinting / Gao Yingxuan / Lin Jinglun / Wen Qingyu / Peng Haiyi / Huang Ling / Song Yanmin / Chen Zhaofei / Xie Caijie / Lin Yiqin / Chang Zaixing / Hong Yujing
Genre: Horror
Known as one of the most effective Taiwanese horror films in recent times, "Curse" tells the story of a young mother, Ruonan, and her daughter Duoduo. The distributor of "The Curse" claimed that the film was the highest-grossing horror film ever made in Taiwan.
The young family was cursed after Ruonan and her boyfriend filmed a video of a forbidden religious ceremony on YouTube. Subsequently, the family struggles with the consequences of the curse, and Duoduo shows signs of possession and inexplicably sees something. However, perhaps the most unique aspect of the film is its metafiction elements. This is so inspiring that a look at the film's Chinese online reviews reveals that many viewers, after watching the film, actually believe they are cursed, or at least claimed to be for fun online.
4. House of Godmen
Director: Lu Yingliang
Genre: Documentary
"The House of the Gods" is a narrative documentary about filmmaker Lu Yingliang's attempt to reconnect with his estranged family. The family is poor – Lu's brother is a farmer and faces persistent crop failures, and the Lu family's patriarch is addicted to gambling and squandering the family's wealth.
The title of the film comes from how the family often consults the gods about their future, and Lu's brother is also a medium. Thus, the film explores not only the complexity of Lu's family dynamics, but also the nature of faith. The documentary began with Lu Xiaofeng's perspective, but as Lu Xiaofeng's relationship with his family changed, the nature of his shooting also changed.
3. Damn asuras
Director: Lou Yi'an
Starring: Huang Shengqiu, Mo Ziyi, Huang Peijia
Genre: Crime, Drama Crime, Drama
While Damn Asura was released at the festival in late 2021, it wasn't widely released in theaters in Taiwan until 2022 – which is why it's on this year's list of Taiwan's best films, not the 2021 list. The film is another part of a recent trend in Taiwanese media following certain events in the mid-2010s to focus on stories of violent crimes by young people publicly.
Damn Asura weaves together the lives of six young people living in Taipei who are ultimately connected through violent acts. The film runs in three acts and explores the impact of small decisions on fate. Talking too much would reveal the main content of Damn Asura, but the film has tremendous power in exploring duality, and it is reflected in both narrative and art. We can explore the relationship between the binary opposites of victim and perpetrator, night and day, online and offline, asuras and gods.
2. The Hayong family
Director: Chen Jieyao
Starring: Lin Tingli, Huang Xinhyuk, Huang Yuyi, Zhang Zujun, Chen Deqing, Lin Zhan Zhenmei, Chen Yu
Genre: family, comedy, drama
Chen Jieyao is probably Taiwan's best-known local director. In 2022, she returned with "Hayong's House", which was her 2016 "Children, hold on!" ", the first work in six years.
The Hayong Family traces three generations of the Hayong family, who belonged to the Atayal tribe. When their grandfather, the patriarch who maintained the family's traditions, died, the Hayong family began to disintegrate. To make matters worse, her granddaughter became pregnant unexpectedly when she returned from New Zealand, and her father and eldest son decided to run for mayor.
The Ha Yong Family offers a refreshing view of a fairly common theme of modernity and tradition and raises intriguing questions.
1. Liumagou No. 10
Chinese name: Liumagou No. 10
Director: Meiling Zhou
Starring: Yu Peizhen, Lian Yuhan, Xu Liwen
Genre: History, Drama
"Liumagou No. 10" is the most politically significant Taiwanese film of 2022, and it is also the most controversial film. Based on a book called Bonfire Island: Untold Stories. This book tells the story of three female prisoners in Green Island Prison in the 50s of the 20th century when Taiwan was under martial law in the "White Terror".
Although "The Story That Cannot Be Said" is not the first film about Taiwan's white terror era, it is novel in several ways. First, it delicately balances the unvarnished desire to convey meticulous historical details and reach a wide audience. There's great music, anecdotes taken straight from Green Island's White Terror Memorial Park, and a set of composite protagonists who conveniently represent the various women imprisoned on Green Island. Second, the film offers an unabashedly female-centric perspective and comes from one of Taiwan's most prominent female directors, Zhou Meiling.