Au Revoir Taipei + SJ Gala Reception

(, , USA, Taiwan, 2010, 80 mins, 35mm)

North American Premiere

Exec. Producers: Wim Wenders, Meileen Choo
Producers: In-Ah Lee, Wei-Jan Liu, Oi Leng Lui
Writer: Chen
Cinematographer: Michael Fimognari
Editor: Justin Guerrieri
Sound: Tu Duu Chih
Music: Wen Hsu
Cast: Jack Yao, Amber Kuo, Joseph Chang, Lawrence Ko

In Person: Arvin Chen, In-Ah Lee, Lawrence Ko

What do you get when you cross a lovesick boy, a jaded mob boss, a flamboyant gangster and a passive-aggressive bookstore clerk? Bay Area native Arvin Chen adds them all together and arrives at the brilliant adventure-romance-caper film AU REVOIR TAIPEI. Sweet, absurd, and gleaming with visual style, Chen’s charming feature-film debut stars an eclectic gang of characters as they embark on a light-footed dance across the streets of Taipei—and a more hazardous navigation across the complicated avenues of love.

Kai is an unassuming twenty-something who spends his days serving up dumplings at his parents’ hole-in-the-wall restaurant and his nights studying French at the local bookstore, hoping to impress his girlfriend studying abroad. Desperate to maintain the affections of his absent lover, Kai finally even resorts to asking the colorful, “well-connected” neighborhood mob boss for help. (“It’s nice to be in love, isn’t it?” responds Brother Bao, just one of the many eccentric characters in the film’s interweaving storylines). Bao graciously provides Kai a plane ticket to Paris, with just one small caveat: Kai must pick up a mysterious package and bring it with him.

Needless to say, packages such as these always have a few proverbial strings attached, and soon the floodgates of catastrophe swing wide open for our hapless courier/lover. Kai must also contend with Bao’s protege, his gang of dimwit wannabes and even an emotionally unstable police detective. Luckily, the lovelorn boy is aided by Susie, an adventurous and sweet bookstore clerk who has taken an unusual interest in Kai. Together they brave the streets of Taipei, weaving their way through musky nightmarkets, seedy alleyways and lively karaoke bars. Turning their journey across Taipei into a metaphorical (and at times literal) dance of courtship, Chen (who directed the short MEI, SFIAAFF ’07) also provides us with a quasi-documentary look at the sights and sounds of a city infused with romance and intrigue: women dancing in the town square, night-market cooks forming noodles from scratch, vendors hawking questionable goods, and more.

Popping with a jazzy soundtrack, campy narrative elements and a distinctly colorful visual aesthetic, AU REVOIR TAIPEI adeptly captures the agony and ecstasy of being young, confused and utterly in love. Handily incorporating elements of Classic Hollywood, film noir, and even Chinese action flicks and melodramas, this dazzling debut (executive-produced by Wim Wenders) will leave you happy and hungering for more.

After the film, Celebrate the start of the Festival’s run in the South Bay at the lavish San Jose Museum of Art. Nibble on delicious hors d’oeuvres, enjoy free-flowing cocktails and get ready for three days of film in San Jose!

-- Christine Kwon

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