Twmovie: Monga

[uisceros]

I first heard about Monga awhile back, and basically forgot about it for a while. However it was recently released on Taiwan, so it's back on my radar.

Monga stars Ethan Ruan, Mark Zhao, and Rhydian Vaughan. The story takes place in the 1980's, and is about a group of boys who join a gang. (Review here)

Now, it's a gangster film, action and everything. But I'm not interested in that. I'm interested in the history there. The film is set in Wanhua, which is a district of Taipei. Wanhua is a place full of contrasts to me. On one hand you've got Ximending. Ximending is "the Harajuku of Taipei", a place where youth culture is rampant. Everything in Ximending proper is shiny, new, and marketable. On the other hand, in Wanhua you've got Longshan and the surrounding areas. The area around Longshan is quite interesting. It's old, building are built on top of buildings there. It's also full of old people, who are often found just randomly sitting on the sidewalks. This area also used to be the red light district, and there's still a lot of seediness around. When we first went to Taiwan, Wanhua was one of the first places we went, and it's one of my more enduring memories of Taiwan.

Now, since the movie is set in the 80's, towards the end of the KMT martial law period. So at this time, Taiwan was finally able to become something, and the people had more freedom. I'm looking forward to seeing how that translates into film.

Also: Ethan Ruan. I LOOOVE Ethan Ruan. He, of course, does dramas well, but I love when he plays against type in movies (see: Exit No. 6). Also the pseudo-gay stuff between Ethan and Mark that the Taiwanese media has been kicking up is intriguing, to say the least. I'm not a huge fan of Mark Zhao, but I do enjoy some random hot boy skinship as much as the next person ;D

Note of awesome: I recognize places in the trailer. Places I've totally been. OMG that reminds me! When I was staying in Wanhua last August, they were totally filming something. I wonder if it was this movie!!!!!

(OMG people, I HATE allergies! I cannot adequately describe how miserable I am. It must be a new allergy, but who knows what to... I need some damn Benadryl, and possibly some calamine lotion)

Comments

[tirenard.livejournal.com]

Hmm looks good!