The Twilight of Tamsui

Composed of three separate stories, the film vividly portrays Taiwan during the cold war period when the country developed its economy with help from the United States.

An aimless young man and his sign-painter friend draw a crowd when they climb to the top of a high-rise billboard.

Adaptation of Huang Chunming's short story "The Two Signpainters".

A girl, who was sold by her stepfather at the age of 14, has had been a prostitute for 14 years. Her family, despite enjoying a comfortable life with her help, avoids her. She thus decides to have a son of her own and succeeds by sheer determination. She is now hopeful that her son will have a life better than hers.

Jade is a 30-year-old reporter who is after the story that will make her career. It turns out that a series of fires have been plaguing the city and a scoop on this story is just the thing she needs.

The riverbanks are dotted with food stalls and buzzing with the parasol-holding crowd. Everyone is here to watch the exciting dragon boat race. Voice-over narration in melodic Taiwanese describes pre-festival preparation, and the celebrations and rituals in various parts of Taiwan. Through carefully-crafted script and well-executed camerawork, this documentary gives a vibrant portrait of ordinary people’s lives in a festive atmosphere.

Viewers are transported back in time to 1974 to see the annual Taoist celebration of the Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage. Thousands of participants accompany a statue of the goddess Mazu, who protects seafarers, on a 9-day, 8-night procession, stopping at several prominent temples along the way. The religious pilgrimage is a round-way journey from the Zhenlan Temple in Dajia, Taichung City to Fengtian Temple in Xingang of Chiayi County on the Western plains of Taiwan. The mesmerising festival takes place every year during the third lunar month and still attracts large masses to this day. The audio track of the film was once banned under the Kuomintang (KMT) due to the film’s inclusion of spoken Hokkien (Taiwanese), giving viewers at the time an altered and suppressed understanding of the event and its cultural significance in Taiwan. Viewers now can revel in the beauty of the Taiwanese language and see the film for the true spirit that it captures.