Discoveries from Taiwan World Cinema

A policeman escorting a murderer to jail must contend with the criminal's accomplices, including a shadowy figure with an iron claw for a hand.

After being told that his uncle has disappeared in the jungle, Man-Ying embarks on a rescue mission. It soon becomes clear that an evil snake-sect controls the jungle with its black magic.

A group of Mainlanders fleeing the Cultural Revolution risk all to reach the adjacent British ‘haven’ of Hong Kong; yet what they find there is a far cry from their dreams of liberty.

After the noble escort captain Han Wu Kwan rescues the grandson of the famous escort security chief Hung Wan Kang. He pledges to escort the kid safely back home. While protecting the child, Han loses his sight. Then he began to learn kung fu for the blind and took revenge on his enemies.

Billed as a "concept film" MAYDAY 3DNA combines play from the group's DNA concert tour in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and China 2010 and interweaves that with three fictional stories. The fictional sequences include a vignette about a Guangzhou father and daughter; another about a Taiwan taxi driver and passenger; and a third about a Shanghai delivery boy. All are affected by the lure of a Mayday gathering and the three separate stories intersect at one particular Mayday concert in Shanghai. Established in Taiwan in the late 1990s, Mayday has remained popular for over a decade by tuning into a Taiwan youth beat and pushing rock music in Greater China. Most songs are performed in Mandarin with some Taiwanese Hokkien tracks by band.

Bruce Li plays a young kung fu expert (and waiter) who is trying to live peacefully in San Francisco with his marital arts-challenged friend. But they run afoul of some American thugs, and the fight is on...right!

Follows a group of food vendors who have made their living in the bustling 888 Night Market for over a decade. Their livelihood is threatened when some real estate developer acquires the land where the night market is situated.

On his 60th birthday, Van is told that he is seriously ill. But instead of going to Taipei for treatment, his illness leads him to Japan. Together with his son, he goes in search of the father who abandoned him 50 years ago. At the same time, a young man with a mysterious connection to Van's past is travelling from Hong Kong to Taiwan.

Taiwanese romance film.

During the Japanese occupation, Little Tiger, an honest cook in Shanghai, takes exception of two Chinese that pass from insult to sexual harassment against a beautiful and modest girl servant. During the fight, the pair of molesters receive help from a number of colleagues from the same martial arts school - who are in support of the Japanese - while Little Tiger is helped by young men from his own school. A major fight develops, and the cook accidentally kills one of the thugs. The Police comes to arrest Little Tiger and to close down his school, but they resist and the cook escapes. Little Tiger is now a fugitive, living in disguise. When a duel between the two rival schools is arranged in an open-air site, Little Tiger is watching disguised as an old man, but he can't resist. He takes off his false beard, declares his name, and demands to join in the competition - beating up all competitors.

Yeh Hsin is a top student in criminal psychology while her father is a distinguished cardiologist. Her boyfriend, Lin Miao, is a young forensic specialist. Everything seems perfect for Yeh Hsin until human remains are discovered in her backyard one rainy night. Around the same time Yeh receives a mysterious letter warning her that her life is about to change drastically.

Several residents of a Taipei apartment complex try to sort out their tangled romances in this Taiwanese drama helmed by Ming-Tai Wang. Hair stylist Angel can't get her aloof beau, Alan, to commit to their relationship -- a problem that escalates when Alan's first love moves in next door. Meanwhile, he's also having a fling with a middle-aged Mafia mistress who lives in the building.

The movie continues the story from the TV series which ended with a cliff hanger where the wife (Sonia Sui) was deciding whether to return to her cheating husband (James Wen) or have a relationship with her boss (Chris Wang). 4 years after the divorce, her cheating husband, Wen Rui Fan, comes back in hopes of re-kindling their love. Will An Zhen return back to him or move on to a new love?

Po-Ching is an OCD patient with serious symptoms of mysophobia. His "quirkiness" has also isolated him from the general public and people see him as a completely weirdo. Po-Ching goes out for grocery shopping on the 15th of each month. One day, he meets another weirdo.

Mayor Guo of Wanhe City was seeking re-election but got kidnapped a few days before election day by a young man from the poor and seriously polluted area of the city. It was a scheme plotted by a local petrochemical company hoping to ensure Guo’s victory in the election so that their expansion application could be approve. However, this false kidnapping goes wrong, and soon everything is out of control.

First in a series of Taiwanese army comedies.

This film follows the lives and the loss of love experienced by four separate couples, including an elderly man who falls for a woman that he had been interested in as a young man.

Two men, one a lowly peon and the other a dutiful nobleman, are betrayed by their master and crippled for life-- One left with no arms and the other with paralyzed legs. Despite their obvious disadvantages, they strive to seek revenge against their evil master. The two men endeavor to track down the fabled Eight Jade Horses, said to hold the key to special martial arts techniques.

An attempted rape of a deaf mute girl causes her to take revenge. Soon the killings begin.

Two brothers who've been separated for many years find each other again and vow to avenge their father's death.

In a coup against an abusive king, a group of young fighters encounters deadly booby traps and lethal weaponry when its members storm a palace to end the reign of terror.

A bandit learns he is being framed for the murder of other martial artists. While searching for the real killer, he encounters an old love.

Choong's title is secret agent, but in reality, his duties are limited to ferrying and running errands for Hong Kong agents when they come to Taiwan - hardly the stuff of "Mission Impossible". Until one day, when an assignment to help two Hong Kong police officers find a missing girl turns into a wild goose chase for $30 million of loot involving Hong Kong top assassins and Taiwan's most powerful triads.

Taiwanese huangmei opera starring Ivy Ling Po.

A trio of happy-go-lucky workers wipe sweat and work hard in every corner. As Chang is feeling anxious about his large number of traffic tickets, Qi suggests to get help from a lawyer. These two workers meet with Quan, who is homeless because of rental problem. Qi who loves to dream of being wealthy decides to use his astonishing intuition and luck to take part in the reality TV show "Who is the lucky one" in the hope of winning the big prizes so he can help his friends and son to make their dreams come true. No matter how hard life is for these trio workers, they will always laugh with you.

Evil Ming dynasty eunuch bullies the emperor and forms a group of invincible kung fu fighters to defeat any competition.

It is the time of the dissolution of the Chinese Empire. The Boxer Rebellion challenges the occupying foreign powers, the Empress Dowager rules the throne, but Warlords control the country. After losing his army in a game of poker, one Warlord tries to borrow money from the foreigners but they will only loan him the money on one condition. The foreigners are bringing an international group of top athletes to tour China. If the warlord can recruit, and train a team to beat the international athletes, then he can borrow the money. A motley crew of offbeat characters are forced into being on the team. Coached by a very unorthodox trainer, played by Hu Gua, the team eventually meets the international athletes in a wild series of battles and competitions until one side is victorious. With lots of very juvenile humor, crotch jokes, and mildly interesting kung fu action.

Jie and Xuan are a happy same-sex couple but Jie is having an affair; she is torn between her recent love-at-first-sight “true love”, and her lifelong partner whom she’d sworn to grow old with. So, the real question is: who is her meant-to-be Ms. Right – predicted by the almighty algorithms?

16-year-old teenager Leaf runs away from home, skipping classes and ending up in a peculiar place called City of Lost Things. There he meets Baggy, a 30-year-old plastic bag. Baggy never sees himself as just another piece of junk. He has a purpose in his life - to lead his tribe to flee City of Lost Things. But he needs the help from Leaf to fight the dreadful army of the Armors.

Rare drunken film, featuring Alan Liu and Hsu Buh Liao: as two likable swordsmen, who get injured by the white haired general whilst trying to save a young damsel in distress. As they recoup they invent seafood boxing to prepare them for the inevitable duel with the white haired general

Barry Chan plays the Canton kid a kung fu fanatic who takes on three vicious kung fu thugs who after being released from jail have come to Canton looking to cause a lot of trouble and to settle old scores.

An early drama starring Brigitte Lin.

This wartime romantic melodrama set in the mountains of Yilan during the final days of WWII. Young and free-spirited Shiow-lan (Feng Fei-fei) falls in love at first sight with Charng-rong (Liang Hsiu-shen), a worker at her father’s lumber mill. She likes to sing, he likes to write music. With their parents' approval, the two decide to get married but their plans are thwarted by Japanese lieutenant Herng-shan who has set his eyes on Shiow-lan. Herng-shan drafts Charng-rong and sends him to war in Southeast Asia where almost certain death awaits.

Set during the Sung Dynasty, patriotic monks of the Shaolin Temple fight against foreign invasion.

Tong Bo Wan and Chang Yi are two expert martial artists who protect the famous Whampoa wharf in Guangzhou from gangsters who are expoiting the dock workers.

Two factions of Taipei's poorest high school students both plot to steal their school's iconic statue of the famed philosopher Dr. Sun to make some much-needed money-but when their plans clash and they find themselves at war, they have to question: what are they really fighting for?

Heavyset Master An (Got Siu-Bo) receives a message from a dying imperial messenger and finds himself to be the hunted due to the defining, powerful nature of the message. A reluctant hero and not a fighting swordsman at heart (his sword is bent and worn), he's defended by mainly a duo of females and a sneaky swordsman played by O Chun-Hung.

For the past forty years, Ah Long has headed up a traditional Chinese musical troupe. But times are changing, and the troupe members leaving one by one, Ah Hui, is an aimless slacker with no plans for the future. Ah Hui’s best friend is Ah Gou, a young man who works as a welder making metal gates.

A young doctor, regardless of his family’s objection, had decided to marry his beloved one. When he discovered that he had contracted a terminal disease and had only a few months to live with, he left his house without a word and came to a rural village. When the doctor saw the run-down medical facilities in the village, he thought he should contribute his best to provide medical assistance to those needy during his lifetime. Hence, he started a medical clinic, which in a short time, his name was spread wide and far. Meanwhile, his beloved girl friend finally found him in the village. Upon hearing his terminal disease, she insisted to marry the dying doctor…

When he’s not tending bar and performing lead in a choreographed rollerblade floorshow at the local hotspot, disdainfully flipping off his mother’s latest lay, or sleeping with the girlfriend of his wealthy, four-wheeled rival, rollerboy Cheng Tung-chuen is tearing up the Taipei streets with his rollerpals, which is how he witnesses hitman Billy Chow kill three other hitmen and light the bodies on fire, but since he has no father figure in his life, he ends up spending the night at Billy’s because Billy feels really bad about his career and just wants to fall in love with supercop Yvonne Yung Hung.

The film opens with a duel on a beach between two master swordsman. An elderly master looks on as the two battle. He stops the duel and proclaims one swordsman the winner and awards him the coveted Purple Light Sword making him the new Sword King. He returns home to show his sickly teacher the treasure but they are attacked by the weird minions of evil King Gold who wants to combine the power of the sword with his developing Fire Ball power. The Sword King loses the sword, his master is killed and is forced to join forces with his opponent from the duel to retrieve it. Along the way they are joined by the daughter of the Blind Master and later the Beggar Army.

A roadside bandit reluctantly agrees to become the muscle for a traveling gambler/cheat. In an attempt to steal from traitorous warlords, they get involved with rebel fighters who hope to use the riches to fund their revolution.

Lu Shao Fung and Seeman Chelsea start a sword duel over one of the men's wives. Lu pursues Seeman, but loses him. This leads him to spend time in Death Villa, where he is both welcomed and challenged. Death Villa is run by a mysterious man who wears a cane basket on his head, with a bead curtain covering his face. He recruits Lu into his evil scheme....

When he was a child, Champ Wang was adopted by a noble man, and as years went by, he fell in love with the man's daughter. After the girl's family was slaughtered, he hid the girl in a secret place and attempted to fine the murderers. During his chase, he killed some great fighters, and their families decide to contract killers in order to get rid of him.

Ah Cheng has decided to get out of this silly kung-fu business and retire with his new girlfriend. Unfortunately, everyone is out to kill him, and one of the killers has been using his trademark knives to frame him! Meanwhile his friends meet up with a mysterious swordsmen who is not what he seems.

SuperBand members are Jonathan Lee, Emil Chau, A-Yue Chang, and Lo Ta

Three poetic tales of seeking the true identity. In the first story, Jing, a blind singer, falls in love with her band's tomboy accordionist Diego. In another time and place, Lily, an elderly lesbian and Yen, her gay friend, create an unexpected bond and support each other in a time of crisis. Finally, we see Diego before she joined the band, when as a teenager she came to grips with her gender identity.

A car accident on a curvy road with a history of death is just the beginning of a woman's horror story.

Taiwanese romantic comedy.

Taiwanese comedy film.

With unprecedented access to Taiwan's sitting head of state, director Vanessa Hope investigates the election and tenure of Tsai Ing-wen, the first female president of Taiwan.

Gonzo, action packed rape-revenge themed Taiwanese "Black Movie" featuring Juliet Chan and "Tattooer Ma" Sha. The original "Underground Wife" cut runs 85 minutes, the later IFD "Kill Butterfly Kill" English language cut is 89. This movie was released again by IFD in the late 80s in a 'cut-and-paste' version called "American Commando 6: Kill Butterfly Kill" (see separate listing).

A true story of the unrelenting endurance and perseverance of a group of passionate teenage girls, in a film that firmly grasps audiences and tugs at the heartstrings with an emotionally charged story of tug-of-war, “Step Back to Glory”, stands out from all of the other Cinderella-story movies in its faithful portrayal of a real-life event. The film, directed by Zhang Bo-rui, tells the story of a group of young teenage girls from the Jingmei Girls High School tug-of-war team and their arduous journey from failure to success.

Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) - 1978. Three French journalists are invited by the Khmer Rouge to conduct an exclusive interview of the regime's leader, Pol Pot. The country seems ideal. But behind the Potemkin village, the Khmer Rouge regime is declining and the war with Vietnam threatens to invade the country. The regime is looking for culprits, secretly carrying out a large scale genocide. Under the eyes of the journalists, the beautiful picture cracks, revealing the horror. Their journey progressively turns into a nightmare.

In the last days of the Ming dynasty, a heroic martial artist battles the evil chief of the palace guard.

Cheung Ching Ching is superb, as usual, playing a blind girl who learns martial arts from an old master and who takes revenge on the Red Devil who murdered her entire family. Brilliant sword film as you'd expect from master auteur Joseph Kuo. —Wu Tang Collection