A Khan Entertainment Co. presentation of a Zeus Intl. production. (International sales: Khan, Taipei.) Produced by Jessica Chen. Executive producer, Khan Lee.
Directed, written by Cheng Yu-chieh.
With: Sandrine Pinna, Chang Ruei-jia, Huang Chien-wei, Her Sy-huoy, Chu Lu-hao, Yu Tai-yan.
(Mandarin dialogue)
Good performances by the two distaff leads are the main reason to watch "Yang Yang," the sophomore feature of Taiwanese writer-director Cheng Yu-chieh, whose "Do Over" toured fests a couple of years ago. As a young athlete who puts her heart and ambition above friendship, Chinese-French actress Sandrine Pinna ("Candy Rain," "Miao Miao") excels in the title role, with quiet support from Her Sy-huoy as her best pal and rival in love, bringing some emotional focus to the untidy script and increasingly pretentious helming. More fest meets beckon.
In a role that riffs on her own background, Pinna (Chinese name Chang Yung-yung) plays Chang Ching-yang, aka Yang Yang, a 20-year-old student athlete who's half-French but doesn't speak a word of her (Gallic) father's language, as she's been raised by her divorced mom (Yu Tai-yan). Her best friend is fellow student Xiao-ru (Her), the daughter of her coach (Chu Lu-hao). When Yang Yang's mom marries the coach, Xiao-ru becomes Yang Yang's sister.
Yang Yang finally gets a real home and a father she respects. But tensions grow when Xiao-ru's b.f., Shawn (Chang Ruei-jia), falls for Yang Yang. In the cause of family and friendship, Xiao-ru turns a blind eye to her suspicions but, in the movie's best sequence, which involves a borrowed cell phone, finds she finally can't ignore the truth.
Pic's second half, following Yang Yang's career as a model and wannabe actress after she's left home, verges on the fanciful, especially when (yikes) she auditions for a role as a half-French woman looking for her father. By now, too, helmer Cheng's propensity for long handheld takes and closeup camerawork seems simply a stylistic affectation.
Still, Pinna, who was so good as the sexually conflicted tomboy in "Miao Miao," smartly limns a character whose talent for emotional deception equips her for a showbiz career; Yu adds flavor as her one-time rocker mom, from whom Yang Yang's rebelliousness may stem. Tech package, led by Jake Pollock's lensing of sultry summertime Taiwan, is good-looking. Exec producer Khan Lee is the brother of Ang Lee.
Camera (color), Jake Pollock; editor, Lin Yue-xing; music, Lim Giong; art director, Chen Po-jen; costume designer, Lee Tsai-ling; sound (Dolby Digital), Tu Duu-chih. Reviewed at CinemaxX 2 Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, Jan. 22, 2009. (In Berlin Film Festival -- Panorama.) Running time: 112 MIN.
Contact Derek Elley at
derek.elley@variety.com