Blue Cha Cha

A new voice within Taiwanese cinema. A narrative and realistic way of film making with a veiled sense of melodrama. A modest kind of film making too, with the film serving the story and the actors. The protagonist is A-Yu, an attractive young woman. She has just come out of prison. It is not immediately clear why she was in jail. The film takes its time informing us of this. Apparently, she has no family to go back to after her sentence, as she moves in with the rather older Ann, a woman she met in jail. A-Yu is sombre and often apathetic. Only a classic Chinese street puppet theatre manages briefly to touch her soul. Through Ann, A-Yu gets a job in a bar. She is not a prostitute, but not everyone seems to realise this. After a brief relationship with a rich customer, she gives up her job to work in a factory. Here too, she has an unhappy love affair. The film maker was looking for a casual emotionalism. He achieves this with simple resources, by concentrating on the story and giving his actors plenty of room. This may sound obvious, but the effect is clearly visible in the finished product. (GjZ)