If you're looking for a serious, heart-warming drama, this is not your film. However, if you're in the mood for a thoroughly silly bit of cinematic cotton candy (candy floss), Formula 17 (Shi qi sui de tian kong) is a good pick. Tien (a young man from a small town) goes to the big city (Taipei) and seeks out his hometown acquaitance Yu, who now works at a gay bar. Tien gets a job in a fitness club, giving him ample opportunity to ogle healthy male bodies exercising. Yu and his friends encourage Tien to dive into the heady excesses of the local cruising scene, but Tien is waiting for true love. Of course, Tien winds up falling for Bai, a thoroughly jaded local playboy. To everyone's surprise (not least his own), Bai is intrigued.
The comedic effect of this particular screening was enhanced by the loss of subtitles on one reel of the film. Just as someone in the audience started shouting translations of the dialogue, the subtitles returned.
FORMULA 17, dir. D.J. Chen, 2004 Taiwan, 93 min. 35mm, in Cantonese, English & Mandarin with English subtitles, distribution: Strand Releasing
I thought it was:
ReplyDeleteJust as someone in the audience started shouting for translations of the dialogue, the subtitles returned.
Several people shouted for translations, and one person had just shouted a translation of the last bit of dialogue, when the subtitles magically reappeared.
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