The Young Ones (Li, 1973): Mini-Film Review

The Young Ones 彩雲飛 (Li Xing 李行, 1973) is a classic romantic drama from early 1970s Taiwan. Adapted from a novel by Qiong Yao 瓊瑤, and starring Chen Chen 甄珍 and Alan Tang 鄧光榮, the film depicts a young man who loses his love interest to sickness, only to become attracted to a woman identical in appearance later in the film. The "shocking" twists and turns involve a set of twins separated by birth and tragic family histories.

The film is set in the most affluent, cosmopolitan sections of Taipei and briefly Hong Kong. And it features full-length song performances, a kind of MTV-esque quality found in many of the films of the time.

I can't help but think that the influence Li Xing's films had on the modernization of Taipei is underrated. What was once a small percentage of Taipei--as depicted in the film here--is now the norm in terms of communication, transportation, the arts, and global connectivity across all of Taiwan.

For my complete list of Taiwan Cinema Toolkit film reviews, click this link here.