0 February 22, 2021 11:19 by Gemma Cockrell
Sharon Hsieh
The Golden Horse Award-winning Director Shin-Yao Huang presents another tragedy-comedy that documents the bittersweet life of middle-aged Taiwanese men in lower-middle class, after his grand debut success and international recognition in
The Great Buddha+ (2017).
It was produced and filmed by another award-winning director, Mong-Hong Chung, whose
A Sun (2019) is shortlisted for Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the moment, and is also available on Netflix. Many talented and beloved Taiwanese-speaking actors appear in the cast, such as Yi-Wen Cheng and Zhi-Ying Zhu (who appeared in Ang Lee’s
Lust, Caution (2007).
Right from the beginning of the film, the director breaks the fourth wall
Plot
According to Netflix s press release, Director Huang Hsin-Yao continued his directing style in The Great Buddha+ and narrated his own film once again. Along with Huang s fly-on-the-wall narration, the four protagonists express their views on the meaning of life through candid conversations. The director said, when directing Classmates Minus, I thought about the people and phenomena that I ve observed in Taiwan over the years. The characters are ordinary people. There is nothing out of the ordinary about their conversations. I make films not to put words into people s mouths, but to portray the troubles faced by middle-aged people.
Executive producers Yeh Ju-feng and Mong-Hong Chung also said, This film is the epitome of what people in all corners of the world may experience in their day-to-day lives. We aim to explore social and economic problems and even the issue of midlife crises through the perspective of Taiwan.