Revenge of the Factory Woman

与爱别离

Taiwan, 2010, colour, 16:9, 88 mins.

Director: Lin Xiaoqian 林孝谦 [Gavin Lin].

Rating: 8/10.

Simple but impressive drama set in 1970s Taiwan, with lucid direction and acting.

STORY

Gaoxiong, southern Taiwan, 1978. Yan Yuhua (Zeng Peiyu), a young woman from a modest background, works on a production line in a factory in the port city’s Export Processing Zone. The production supervisor, Ji Guowei (Yin Zhaode), is also her boyfriend. One night, he proposes to her, and she accepts. Her best friend, Zeng Shunfang (Zhou Hengyin), whose father (Ye Dengyuan) owns the factory, seems delighted for them both; but underneath she realises she also secretly loves Ji Guowei. Ji Guowei and Yan Yuhua settle into what seems a perfect marriage. However, one evening, alone at the factory by chance, Ji Guowei and Zeng Shunfang share a moment together. Later, Yan Yuhua tells Ji Guowei that she’s pregnant. But then Zeng Shunfang, whose father wants to marry her off to a business colleague, tells Ji Guowei that she is pregnant too. Overhearing their conversation, Yan Yuhua is devastated and leaves Ji Guowei, as well as publicly disclosing his adultery with Zeng Shunfang. Shamed by the incident, Zeng Shunfang’s father tries to force her to have an abortion, further precipitating events.

REVIEW

A simple story, simply told, this second feature by writer-director Lin Xiaoqian 林孝谦 [Gavin Lin], 31, is an impressive achievement that has a quite different feel from most movies by young Taiwan film-makers who are either more interested in scoring intellectual points or more focused on narrow, local subject matter. Partly recalling the classic style of 1960s Taiwan cinema by directors like Li Xing 李行 (though without those films’ underlying nationalism), but more particularly the “pure”, ingenuous dramas of 1980s director Chen Kunhou 陈坤厚 (especially The Matrimony 结婚, 1985), Revenge of the Factory Woman 与爱别离 references many of the conventions of Asian melodrama without either condescending to them or trying for some kind of post-modern reinterpretation. Lin and co-writer Lv Longshi 吕鑨谥 believe in their characters and don’t judge them – even the more conservative older generation – and, after what seems like a beautifully composed but uninvolving first hour, this approach pays off emotionally as the bonds of family and friendship re-assert themselves in interesting ways.

Though a tad more formally composed than his first feature, youth romance In Case of Love 街角的小王子 (2009), the film has a similarly easy style pitched between arthouse and mainstream, with attractively clean visuals by d.p. Feng Xinhua 冯信华 (who also shot the 1970s-set episode by Hou Jiran 侯季然 in Juliets 茱丽叶, 2010) and a simple, melodious score by composer Chen Zhongyi 陈忠义 that matches the sentiments on display. As in Love, Lin seems to have a natural feel – way beyond his years and experience – for when to hold a close-up, when to cut away, and how to blend contrasting elements into a smooth viewing experience. Even when little is actually happening on screen, Lin keeps the viewer interested in his characters.

None of this, however, would have worked without the cast, which features no star names but handpicked actors in each role. Actress-model Zeng Peiyu 曾佩瑜 is far better employed here than in the vacuous Honey PuPu 消失打看 (2011), playing the demure and uncomplicated factory girl Yan Yuhua with a believable innocence that’s matched by the sympathetic Yin Zhaode 尹昭德 (the lead kid in The Red Lotus Society 飞侠阿达, 1994) as her errant husband Ji Guowei. However, the revelation of the movie is Zhou Hengyin 周姮吟, 21, as Yan Yuhua’s best friend, spoiled rich kid Zeng Shunfang.

Recalling a younger Liu Ruoying 刘若英 [René Liu], Zhou was previously best known for playing the sexy mistress in the Rear Window-like drama Zoom Hunting 猎艳 (2010), but here gets her first real chance to strut her stuff. Even during the opening 25 minutes, when the story is technically centred on the romance and marriage between Ji Guowei and Yan Yuhua, it’s Zhou’s calculatedly fey performance as the friend-in-the-middle that holds the attention and maintains a sense of edge, of impending drama, when not much is going on apart from character exposition. Though Zeng Shunfang, like Ji Guowei, is never vilified, it’s still to the credit of Zhou that she’s able to make the “other woman” role so rounded and, ultimately, sympathetic.

The gambit by Lin and Lv of leaving the plot’s major twist until so late in the game initially seems to unbalance the movie. With enough happening in the final 20 minutes to fuel another hour of drama, the texture of the movie seems to thicken unnaturally after the spacious and lucid feel of the preceding hour. In fact, this compressed finale, which blends flashbacks with the present, brings the film to a very moving close just when it looked as if there would be no major emotional pay-off.

The period look for late 1970s Gaoxiong looks well-researched but a little stiff. English subtitles are fine, except for the silly decision to give the main characters western names like “Gordon”, “Yvonne”, “Sophie” and “Jamie” that’s both unnecessary and distracting. The film’s dramatic English title doesn’t really reflect the tone of the movie, though it’s better than the original one, A Departure from Love. The Chinese literally means “Taking Leave of Love”.

CREDITS

Presented by Cherry Pick Entertainment (TW), Hank’s Film (TW). Produced by Cherry Pick Entertainment (TW), Hank’s Film (TW).

Script: Lin Xiaoqian [Gavin Lin], Lv Longshi. Photography: Feng Xinhua. Editing: Lv Longshi. Editing advice: Chen Xiaodong. Music: Chen Zhongyi. Songs: Chen Zhongyi. Production design: Ke Qingmei. Art direction: Cao Jingyi. Costume design: Chen Qiuling. Sound: Chen Yiwei, Jian Fengshu.

Cast: Yin Zhaode (Ji Guowei/Gordon), Zeng Peiyu (Yan Yuhua/Yvonne), Zhou Hengyin (Zeng Shunfang/Sophie), Lee Kangyi (Yan Qianhui/Chelsea), Li Lv (Ji Junmei/Jamie), Ye Dengyuan (Zeng Shunfang’s father), Fang Xinfa (factory’s personnel director), Chen Pengzhou (young man at dance), Xue Wenyi (Chen, company head), Cai Qiming (Chen Wencong), Huang Xiangting (young Yan Qianhui), Chen Yijun (young Ji Junmei), Zhang Tingyu (baby Yan Qianhui), Wu Qingyou (baby Ji Junmei), Wang Youting (voice of young Yan Qianhui), Shen Yimao (wedding-portrait photographer), Wu Denghang (Lin, doctor), Liu Yinquan (Ji Guowei’s father), Cai Shunv (Ji Guowei’s mother), Xu Shumei (Yan Yuhua’s mother), Liu Yaosheng, Pan Hongzhi (wedding-dinner guests), Huang Tingjia (wedding-dinner waiter), Zhang Wuhe, Hung Yisheng, Kang Guoxing (teppanyaki chefs), Cai Mengjun (hotel receptionist), Zhan Suzhen, Zeng Lijuan, Li Yahui (Grand Hotel employees), Chen Shengya (factory friend), Lv Longshi (taxi driver).

Premiere: Gaoxiong Film Festival (Gaoxiong Spirit), 26 Oct 2010.

Release: Taiwan, 13 May 2011.

(Review originally published on Film Business Asia, 3 Oct 2011.)