Girlfriend Boyfriend
- Year:2012
- Rating:M
- Director:Yang Ya-che
- Cast:Hsiao-Chuan CHANG, Lun Mei GWEI
- Release Date:August 02, 2012
- Distributor:China Lion
- Film Worth:$9.00
- FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Lost in a sea of tones and narrative points, this fails to deliver laughs or a genuine emotional connection.
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Of all topics, who would have thought the concept of Taiwanese nationalism would have been such a difficult one to convey on screen? Girlfriend Boyfriend recounts the changing lives and persistent love triangle between three close friends against the backdrop of social upheaval, as Taiwan breaks free of its martial law rule and attempts to forge a new identity.
Admittedly, this film's political agenda plays a secondary role to the interplay between its three main characters (Lun Mei Gwei, Hsiao-Chuan Chang and Fon Yuen Vaughan), for which it should be commended, but that is where the applause ends. For all its promise, Girlfriend Boyfriend simply cannot decide what sort of film it wants to be, and the result is a disjointed cluster of unnecessary side plots and melodramatic fare.
For a film that classifies itself as a comedy, it brings no laughs beyond the opening act, instead gradually descending into a miserable soap opera. The film's attempt to deepen the story by throwing in new themes for the characters to intermittently deal with (including adultery, homosexuality and self-inflicted disconnectedness) actually has the opposite effect, as the plot becomes needlessly convoluted. It closes on an ending intending to justify the struggles each character has endured, but the fact that it completely overlooks the fate of Aaron, arguably the film's most relatable character, leaves the viewer wanting more, but also glad that the ordeal is over.
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