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'Cape No.7' Poster
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Finally, 2008 brought the smash hit "Cape No.7." It brought audiences back to the movie houses. The unpretentious film inspired new confidence among Taiwan's filmmakers. There are two clues to the success of the film. It's about ordinary people who live by the seaside. A band is formed in the community. The band members are a lonely postman, a policeman whose wife left him, a very cool girl young lady and a salesman who trades in rice wines. The members of the group discover their true values and rediscover themselves while practicing as a group. The second clue is that there is a love story that took place sixty 60 years earlier but only recently was disclosed by a couple of rediscovered love letters. The frankness and integrity of the characters impressed the film audience.
Neither director Wei Te-Sheng or the film's leading actors are highly acclaimed. The film makes owes its success to a well constructed plot and excellent performances. A month after its premiere, "Cope No.7"'s box office exceeded 100 Million New Taiwan Dollars, or three million US Dollars. In October, it set another record in Taiwan's Chinese language film history by surpassing the box office success of the 1992 smash, "Police Story 3 Super Cop", starring Jackie Chan.
"Cape No.7" may not prove a panacea for Taiwan's film industry. But film makers are encouraged and are preparing to forge ahead with new found hope.
(CCTV November 25, 2008)
