Cape No. 7

M has complained, twice, that I am not writing any new posts. The justification I can come up with is that I’ve been so busy at work, and the boss has become so demanding after I returned from Israel, but the truth is, I do not have any excuse, but have been just lazy, although I do have something to share. I took photos of something, uploaded them to the Blogger, wrote something, but never completed it.

Ok, let’s talk about movie for now. 2 weeks ago I went back to Tainan to visit my folks. I was not able to get tickets to return for Moon Festival, and luckily one typhoon hit Taiwan right over that weekend, so it turned out to be good for me to not return. So I promised my mother to go back the next week, and I did.

I wanted to do something together.

I am used to going back and just stay with them the whole time without going out at all. If I am familiar with shopping environment (though I cannot afford it) in Taipei 101 area, how would I want to run to those department stores in Tainan anyway? And I really did not keep contact with friends well enough, so really did not feel like calling anyone.

Cape No. 7 is the in movie in Taiwan. It started out slow in just a handful of theaters, however, it received great reviews from the audience, and the interesting thing is that the audience highly recommends their friends and relatives to go, and it starts to get more and more attentions from more and more people, and then it airs in more and more theaters. Many people actually go watch this movie more than once.

The nice thing about this movie is that it tells a simple story and it uses the language we are used to. It does not intend to give us a cinema lesson, nor does it try to show us movie is really a form of art. It is not even a romantic love story, although the 7 letters from 60 years ago are gently read. Writing this, I do not know how to proceed with the story. 

Anyway, I decided to take my parents to the movie. I was on the train going back to Tainan that Friday night. When was the last time I went to the movie with my parents? I really could not recall. I had only 2 impressions. One is when I was probably in the kindergarten. My parents took all 3 kids to watch a movie. The title of the movie is something like “Cute animals” in Chinese. Maybe just animals did some funny things on the movie, similar to the programs we may see on Discovery Channel now. I had fun, and I was very little. The second impression is that my dad took me only to a theater. I think I still barely remember where the movie theater was located, and know that at one point it became a porn movie theater when I was a high school student. I was probably a second grader only. Not sure why my dad took only me, or was it a Sunday. Maybe my dad felt like some entertainment, and knew I would not tell my mother. Well, the movie theater was very busy, and because the seats were first come first served, and we went in late, so my dad and I stood there watching the movie. I was really too little, so standing in the crowd, I remember I saw more asses than the movie.

Those probably happened 30 years ago.

Later I asked my parents about it. They also could not remember. They said the last time they ever went to the movie theater was like more than 20 years ago. I don’t remember my parents ever took us to dine out, how could we possibly afford to go to the movies?

Cape No. 7 is a Taiwanese movie. Conversation is mostly in Taiwanese and Mandarin, some in Japanese. So it is easier for them to understand. There has been such a hype of this movie on the newspaper, television programs, etc. Even my mom knows about it. So it is a nice thing to go to the movies together.

So, my parents, niece and nephew (they happened to spend the weekend there too, as my sister had to study for the weekend), and I went. This time, kids got popcorn and coke, my mom was satisfied with a cup of hot tea, my dad and I got a nice size of Starbucks coffee. Hard to believe that we watched the 1pm show, and it was all full. By saying that, we sat at the very last row, and we could tell easily, even the first row was all full.

This movie is still creating miracle in terms of attention and revenue, and it is almost certain that it will become one of the top 10 Taiwanese movies in the history. What do I like the best in the movie? Courage. The hug in the poster looks like eternity, but it only lasts for like 2 seconds in the movie. The main actor, Aga, delivers the 7 letters to the address Cape No. 7 and goes back to the beach, hugs the actress, and quickly says, either I go with you to Japan, or you stay, and he hurries to the stage and start performing in the concert.

Of course they barely know each other, however, Aga knows if he does not say or do something he will lose her forever. That hug is so short, but is stronger in emotion than hot kiss and hot sex.

How much do my parents like the movie? Well, I don’t know. My mom had to pee one hour after the movie starts, and the movie runs 2 hours and 40 minutes. I know my dad would be happy if I bought him a cup of coffee latte from the Starbucks, no matter what we do. I had a good time, however, taking care of things and watching the movie.