愛情來了 (Love Go Go)

This 1998 Taiwan film directed and written by Chen Yu-hsun (陳玉動) was a splash at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. Chen was directing TV sitcoms before doing this big screen item which is his 2nd. after his 1995's "Tropical Fish " . This movie is starring: Tang Na (堂娜) , Eli Shih(施易南), Chen Cheng-hsin(陳進興), Liao Hui-jen (廖慧珍), Huang Tsi-chiao(黃子佼)

Th story consists of focuses on each one of a few Taipei characters' love and heartaches : a lovelorn baker Ah Sheng (Chen Ching-shin) who is childlike, shy, a little overweight, and physically awkward. But when Li Hua (Tang Na), his childhood sweetheart, visits his bakery every day, his life takes a romantic turn. He expresses himself through food and song: he starts baking special pastries and gives them outlandish names: "I'm sorry" cakes, "Love you forever" tarts. But she fail to recognize him. Eventually, he writes her a letter (and that has to be snatched from his grip by his young foolish assistant and gave to the girl on his behalf) , spilling out his heart: she had vanished when they were graduating from primary school, but in his imaginative mind , remained with him as an "invisible friend", who served to give him courage and comfort during a lonely sad teenager years (both his parent were killed in an auto accident) . His ultimate romantic gesture is to offer to appear on a TV amateur singing competition despite hispathetic singing , belting out his fondness for her . Watch the ending scene when he finally goes on the TV and sing - it is absolutely fabulous! Li Hua's grief at being dumped by her boyfriend is interrupted by the riotous TV host's maniac laughters as she tries to continue weeping while watching Ah Sheng's televised song tribute to her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-IyIWYAHJc

Throughout the whole film, the character of Tang Na walks with a limp which is actually the result of her auto accident in real life.

Another lovelorn typist Lily (Liao Hui-jen) who is of a bubbly and naive character. Her story starts when she finds a pager on the ground. It turns out that the owner ( Huang Tsi-chiao) who is actually a jerk but pretend dying to meet her because she talked him out of his "intended suicide" (probably because she has such a sweet voice ) . But she's rather big so when they agree to meet, she embarks on a futile crash diet/trimming program. As he is a creep, he rejects her outright when he meets her at the park. The scenes to watch out for are when she and her office friends talk about men and all those stuffs she adds on her bowl of instant noodle when she watches the TV food program.


The final story sends Ah Sung (Chen Cheng-hsin) the salesman to Li Hua's (the breath taking Tang Na!!!!! ) beauty salon, where he inadvertently intervenes to protect her from the enraged wife of her boyfriend. I am very moved by those scenes starting from the part when she weeps after an argument over the phone with her lover while she is cutting Ah Seng's hair onwards toward the very end where she went home to catch Ah Sheng's TV performance. During which she read the goodbye note left there by her lover. She just sat there and cry and cry. It would make every man in this world want to lend their shoulder/chest for her !

This film is definitely the BEST Taiwan movie I have watched over the years. It is genre-breaking style silly business with inventive touch, that finds all the sweetness inside the ridiculous characters' exteriors . But I fall in love with Tang Na the first time I saw this movie - she is soooo woman.