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The Great Buddha+ Cheng Cheng Films Reviewed for Shockya.com by: Harvey Karten Director: Hsin-yao Huang Screenwriter: Hsin-yao Huang Cast: Cres Chuang, Bamboo Chu-Sheng Chen, Leon Dai, Shao-Huai Chang Screened at: Critics’ DVD, NYC, 11/18/18 Opens: November 23, 2018: Taiwan’s Oscar Candidate for 91st Academy Awards! You should not be surprised to discover that the U.S. […]

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Just when you think 2017 has been a good year for Taiwanese cinema, here comes a movie that upgrades “good” to “excellent”. “The Great Buddha +” is the debut feature film of Taiwanese director Huang Hsin-yao and it’s an extended version (hence the “+”) of his 2014 short movie “The Great Buddha”. Previously a documentary director focused on social and environmental issues, Huang has been helped in his new enterprise by fellow director Chung Mong-hong, in the role of producer and Dop. “The Great Buddha +” scooped several awards at the Taipei Film Festival and later the prestigious New Director Award at the Golden Horse Awards, along with Best Original Film Score, Best Cinematography and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The Great Buddha + is screening at Art Film Fest Kosice

Like in his documentaries, the storytelling is aided by the director’s own voice-over commentary, punctuating the movie here and there with dark jokes,...

Just when you think 2017 has been a good year for Taiwanese cinema, here comes a movie that upgrades “good” to “excellent”. “The Great Buddha +” is the debut feature film of Taiwanese director Huang Hsin-yao and it’s an extended version (hence the “+”) of his 2014 short movie “The Great Buddha”. Previously a documentary director focused on social and environmental issues, Huang has been helped in his new enterprise by fellow director Chung Mong-hong, in the role of producer and Dop. “The Great Buddha +” scooped several awards at the Taipei Film Festival and later the prestigious New Director Award at the Golden Horse Awards, along with Best Original Film Score, Best Cinematography and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Great Buddha+ is screening in the Us at the moment, released by Cheng Cheng Films

Like in his documentaries, the storytelling is aided by the director’s own voice-over commentary, punctuating the movie here and there with dark jokes,...

Stars: Qi Shu, Chen Chang, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Shao-Huai Chang, Nikki Hsin-Ying Hsieh, Ethan Juan, Zhen Yu Lei, Fang Mei, Dahong Ni, Jacques Picoux, Fang-yi Sheu, Chun Shih, Mei Yong, Yun Zhou | Written by Hsiao-Hsien Hou, Hai-Meng Hsieh, Cheng Ah | Directed by Hsiao-Hsien Hou

“That man poisoned his father, he killed his own brother. His guilt condemns him.”

The Assassin, Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s painterly spell of a film, tells the tale of a too-merciful assassin tasked by her tutor with her own cousin’s murder. Nie Yinniang, portrayed with aching affect by Shu Qui, is a woman consummately skilled at an art the practice of which has broken her heart. She kills with balletic precision, opening the film with the understated murder of a corrupt government official as he rides in the countryside with his retinue. Even in the act of killing she projects a sense of listless melancholy, and...