Cape No. 7
Mandarin/Taiwanese/Japanese/English with English Subtitles
Showing at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston July 30 and 31
Contact the museum for more details (www.mfah.org/films)
In order to prepare for the performance of a famous musician in a small Taiwan town, they put together a rock band led by a moody postal worker captivated by a stolen cache of unopened love letters from 1940s occupied Taiwan written from a Japanese man to a Taiwanese woman he was forced to leave behind. As the letters begin to change the guitarist’s life, he begins his own romance with the band’s Japanese organizer.
While this is one of the most successful films to have ever come from Taiwan, I feel that the cultural rift might be a little too much for some. I’m not saying the film is bad, but I can’t say I would recommend it highly either. I can blame much of the confusion of the film on the bad subtitles for which I’m certain that much is lost in translation. After all, I don’t think a love song about Skywalker would whip the crowd into a frenzy of excitement, but if it would have, then I probably just have a clear lack of cultural understanding.
What is most impressive about the film was the beautiful cinematography and production. I’ve never seen Taiwan look like such a lovely tourist destination in my life. The beaches, the people, and the street life all look incredibly enticing. B-