TAIWAN CINEMA | Opening Night Gala (Screening of Tears and Opening Night Party)
Friday, February 26th, 2010
| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, February 26, 2010 | 6:30PM - 12:00PM | External Event, Town Hall, Innis College at the University of Toronto, 2 Sussex Avenue (south of Bloor at St. George) & Innis Café |
Description
**Tickets for all screenings including opening night can be purchased 30 minutes before start time at the venue box office.**
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26
6:30 OPENING NIGHT WELCOME
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
“Bentu: Taiwan Cinema’s Sentiments and Marketplace” Professor Emilie Yueh-Yu Yeh (Department of Cinema-Television and Director , David C. Lam Institute for East-West Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University)
GALA SCREENING
Tears (2009) | Directed by Cheng Wen-Tang | 111 min. | see below for synopsis
9:00 – 12:00 GALA PARTY (Innis Café)
“Tears is a quietly shattering character study of a bad cop with a good conscience, whose punishment becomes redemption for his past crimes. It calmly traces how negative actions, like small tremors imperceptibly building up to a quake, can have devastating consequences on self and others” (review, Hollywood Reporter)
Veteran Taiwanese director Cheng Wen-tang’s sets his story in a restrictive social setting in order to offer some comprehension of his protagonist’s behavior. Guo (Tsai Chen-Nan) is a middle-aged police detective, lonely and given to a simple routine spending time with his dog, doing volunteer work at a hospital. He likes to veer off his beat to chat up two teenage girls who sell betelnuts in skimpy clothes. Guo would seem to be a subdued and simple man but he has hidden peculiarities. He has not shed a tear in a decade and he uses brutality to extract confessions from suspects. He then becomes in a brutal murder case. A couple, Mr. And Mrs. Lai Lai, found dead, victims of arson. Their son, Carson committed the crime and his young sister Wen was the witness of the murder. Six months later, Carson escapes from prison. An ambiguous rapport develops between Guo and Wen keeping the viewer unsure whether his feelings for her are paternal or sordid.
The film reopens a dark period in Taiwan’s past and police abuse of power. Wang keeps his camera at a distance, the style of the film is restrained and observant.
Cheng Wen Tang has been directing films since 1999, when he debuted with Postcard, which won numerous prizes and quickly established his reputation as one the leading Taiwan filmmakers of the new millennium. Tears is his fifth feature film.
– Shelly Kraicer
TEARS is distributed by Joint Entertainment International Inc.
If you are attending a Munk School event and require accommodation(s), please email the event contact listed above to make appropriate arrangements.
Disclaimer: Please note that events posted on this website are considered to be public events – unless otherwise stated – and you are choosing to enter a space where your image and/or voice may be captured as part of event proceedings that may be made public as part of a broadcast, webcast, or publication (online and in print). We make every effort to ensure your personal information is kept and used in compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). If you have any questions please get in touch with our office at munkschool@utoronto.ca or 416-946-8900.