

Director : Lin Jing-Jie Lin 
Starring : Mo Tz-yi, Jia Siao-guo, Kwai Lunmei 

The film garnered Critics' Week Award in Venice Film Festival 2007 

Synopsis 
The story revolves around three people ... a man who had just lost his job and girlfriend and was going around Taiwan to record different sounds, unique sounds, etc, so as to realize what he and his ex-girlfriend had wanted to embark on, a project known as "Formosa" ... a girl who kept receiving postal mails addressed to the former resident of her new apartment, and soon she sought solace in these sounds and recordings ... a man who was a psychiatrist, and he liked role playing ... 

My Thoughts 

-- It is definitely an art film, whereby the plot is less important than the experience itself ... As the audience is led through the life of these three people, you get to know more about them, learn about them, and feel for them ... 

-- The sounds are what made the film slightly more interesting ... Somewhere in the film, it asks, can one really identify a place, or whatever simply based on its sounds?! hmmm ... food for thought ... 

-- I think all the three casts carry their roles well ... 

Conclusion 
I cannot say all will like this film. However, you may appreciate a slightly different kind of film, at least one that focuses on collecting sounds ... Not a lot, but quite a number ... I thought it was a pity that they deleted the "chants" recording of a temple which they have collected (found in "deleted scenes") ... But I guess the director has his own reasons ... 

PS: 

From the Director: 

When I wrote this screenplay in 2002, it was initially for one of my best friends, Chen Ming Tsai; to showcase his enormous talent. At the time I thought he was one of the top performers in Taiwan, and that it was a shame that he had never been given a chance to show his true worth. Therefore I decided to make a film specially written with him in mind. 

In August 2003, just before pre-production started, he went for a walk on his own to Du-lan Bay in Taidong on the east coast of Taiwan, and ended his life.

In August 2006, I decided to finish this film no matter what, in order to realize a promise made to my good friend, to display the strength of will of a film creator and to break free from the depression then present in the Taiwanese film industry with a group of sincere and passionate filmmakers.

This film is about the predicament of being human, and the pursuit of meaning regardless of the price. I believe that this is indeed the most distant course which, nonetheless, will reach the deepest place of everyone's heart, through which one can reflect on and see the real self.