Cape No. 7 (2008)
Cape No. 7 (2008) 6/10
Cape No. 7 (海角七號) is Taiwan’s breakthrough hit of the year. Already the second highest grossing film of all time in Taiwan (after Titanic), this is crowd-pleasing film has already been submitted as Taiwan’s entry for best foreign film Oscar and has won a number of Golden Horse Nominations. The question is whether this film truly deserves all its hype. The answer is no. As a film, it is certainly a crowd pleaser and its mix of quirky characters, rustic scenery and catchy songs which makes this a fairly entertaining effort. The film uses a mix of Taiwanese dialect, Mandarin and a smattering of English and Japanese, underscoring the cultural background of the film. It also boasts of beautiful scenery and reasonably entertaining story. All of which makes it an above average movie that audiences can enjoy. But judged as a film, the predictable plotline, and cliched romance is a decidedly uneven effort. The biggest and most glaring flaw is the insertion of a WW2 romance plotline which is jarring and woefully unnecessary. Titanic could afford to add in a short modern day epilogue, but Taiwanese director Wei Te-Sheng is no James Cameron. Nor, for that matter is he in the league of famous Taiwanese directors like Hou Hsiao Hsien or Ang Lee. The film feels rough and the acting for most parts is adequate but unspectacular. With a fairly large cast, many of the smaller characters are only given a cursory introduction and the main leads lack chemistry with an abruptly put together romance.
As a piece of entertainment, Cape No. 7 will likely please the masses. As a film, it is merely above average and retreads the random group of misfits creating a band genre without adding anything new. If you liked this film, then you should check out far superior versions, like LINDA LINDA LINDA (2005), Les Choristes (2004) or School of Rock (2003)
