Ilha Filmosa

Taiwanese cinema in review

Godspeed

Godspeed begins with an expletive, voiced feelingly by a panicked man, his face bathed in red light. The choice of words is understandable: with a pair of shears being closed around his neck and a menacing crowd of heavies standing by, Da Bao is having a day he would rather forget.

Ilha Filmosa

Welcome to Ilha Filmosa

Here you will find a collection of film reviews and articles introducing the cinema of Taiwan, or - to use the name given by the Portuguese - Ilha Formosa : the beautiful island. Occupying a unique place in the world, Taiwan is rich in language, history and culture, and its cinema is no exception.

Dive in to discover the vibrant, emotive and often surprising world of Taiwan through the silver screen. Not sure where to start? Click a picture that takes your fancy above, or try the Coups de Coeur section for some films that come highly recommended. You might also like to check out the Articles section, in which you can find information on some of the cultural context behind filmmaking in Taiwan.

A taxi approaches

Godspeed

Godspeed begins with an expletive, voiced feelingly by a panicked man, his face bathed in red light. The choice of words is understandable: with a pair of shears being closed around his neck and a menacing crowd of heavies standing by, Da Bao is having a day he would rather forget.

Small Talk

This brave piece of filmmaking explores the director’s own troubled relationship with her mother and the family secrets that lie behind it.

Gezaixi & Cinema

A brief introduction to gezaixi (Taiwanese opera) and its role in the early cinema of Taiwan.

Cities of Last Things

Touching a number of genres – crime, sci-fi, murder mystery, romance – and by turns sad, sexy, funny and dark, Cities of Last Things is ultimately a modern fable of pessimism, of being the victim of circumstance, of illusory happiness achievable now only in drug-enhanced artifice.

Pushing Hands

Pushing Hands is a well-paced and sensitively-handled exploration of conflict. What initially appears to be a clash of East-and-West is quickly overshadowed by universal questions of generation gaps, family obligations, identity and ageing.