Love in Taipei

By: Ilaria Masselli

The film Love in Taipei is based on the New York Times bestseller Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen. We all know how difficult is to give to a movie the same pathos as a book, but the most important thing for me is to watch something pleasant, that gives you the opportunity to spend some time without thinking. In this case, it happened to be just that. However, are still talking about a romantic movie for young people who discover the taste of first love and of what freedom looks like. Here I found the perfect balance between cheerfulness and lightness, to convey all of this.

This film tells the story of a young American woman, Ever Wong (Ashley Liao), who is spending her holidays in Taiwan, which was organized by her parents for a cultural immersion program where she discovers not only herself, but also what is love and freedom. During this trip, in fact, she is not interested in lessons or doing her homework but rather she is instead more focused on spending the summer with her friends, discovering herself and all the attractions that the city can offer. In this new perspective of life, she will try to not fall in love with two charming but at the same time very different boys, Rick (Ross Butler) and Xavier (Nico Hiraga). Also, her biggest passion dancing will help Ever to face her parents with their ambitious expectations on her professional life.

Personally, I think that this movie can be seen as a sort of a magnifying glass of a new culture, in all its nuances. I found the scenes about street food and traditional costumes very interesting and funny at the same time.  In this movie culture’s beauty is everywhere, especially in its simplicity. Everything is made even more pleasant thanks not only to the beautiful location of the city, but also by the delicacy with which Ashely Liao manages to convey the purity of feelings and emotions that the place arouses.

The movie, directed by Arvin Chen, maybe is not very focused on what is the personal background of the characters, remaining too much on the surface and not giving the opportunity to the viewer to understand very well the various aspects of characters. At the same time, he gives a free ticket to take a trip into the big city of Taiwan. I really appreciate the fact that he underlines the importance of communicating, which is so important in every single situation. Also, the relationship between Aunt Shu (Cindy Cheung) and Ever is so sweet and I loved to see this artistic and profound bond that binds them.

Love in Taipei is for sure a fresh, pure and simple romantic movie where the importance of following your dreams is irreplaceable, no matter what. I love simple things like that, honestly, where the message is direct and clear. Where a different culture is not something to be ashamed of, but it’s a magnificent discovery where you can find true love and friendship. As I said before, it’s certainly not easy to put the many details of a book into a movie, but it’s also important to relax and think about how in life sometimes anything is possible and even sweet.