David on Formosa

I saw The Wall-Passer (穿牆人) when it premiered at the Taipei Film Festival in July. The movie will have a general release in Taiwan today. 

In my most recent movie review I lamented the fact that many Taiwanese movies have similar themes of love and romance and that, "Directors need to break out of this mold with new and original themes and methods of story telling." The Wall-Passer is in one way just another love story, but it is also a little bit different. 

The film is set some time in the near future. The setting is partly familiar, yet strikingly different. Viewers familiar with Taiwan will recognise some of the locations, but it successfully creates another world. Actually it creates two worlds; the basis of the story is that Tye (小鐵) has a magic rock that allows him to pass between two worlds. The result is a unique blend of sci-fi and romance. 

The director, Hung Hung (鴻鴻), deserves credit for his vision and imagination. I hope this film encourages other Taiwanese film makers to take more risks in their work. I think this film will appeal to fans of science fiction and anybody else who wants to experience something new and different. It is certainly worthy of support and attention.  

Links

• The Wall-Passer - official website
• 穿牆人 -  movie blog (中文)
• Fantasizing about the future - Taipei Times review
• The Wall-Passer Review - Variety