Synopsis It’s the year 1999, the year before the millennium., Hei-shu’s cat is missing. At about the same time, a new neighbor moves in to an apartment upstairs. He strongly believes that his cat will come back some day. He later suspects that the cat has turned into a woman called Yokulut. Hei-shu He believes that he was Japanese in his previous life and was named “Tesuo”. There is a man shoes name is also “Tesuo” in the musicalband. Hei-shu, a long-term unemployed man, finally gets a job in a local musical band, performing at funerals and weddings. The irony is that no one in the band can play any musical instruments. One day, Hei-shu’s best friend, Tu-fei, lends him a porno VCD, which contains hidden camera filmed sex scenes. One of the scenes contains a 60 year-old woman having sex with a young man. He finds the old woman very attractive and familiar looking to him. She reminds him of his idol, Gao Ya-qi, a female news anchor. He shares a special world with Gao. From time to time, Gao talks to him personally on the TV screen. Later, she also warns Hei-shu better to keep his job. Otherwise, he might be4 one of the targets of the government’s conspiracy to terminate worthless individuals, especially the unemployed ones. Later, Hei-shu finds that Gao is also one of them… The crisis finally comes. Since Hei-shu and Tu-fei both cannot play any instruments, they’re afraid to be the next government targets so they try to learn their instruments and follow Gao’s instructions to avoid being exterminated. To make matters worse, Hei-shu’s mother has disappeared. On the eve of the millennium new year, every secret seems to have a different key to its mysteries…
Synopsis Xiao-hua is a boy who lives with his mother. His mother is a street vendor who sells soft drinks outside of a military base. In order to earn more money from soldiers, she has to flirt with them. Xiao-hua has a dream. That is , to become a great soldier. For new soldiers at military troop number three, fulfilling obligatory military service is waste of life. They take advantage of Xiao-hua’s dream and curiosity, asking him to run some annoying errands for them. The commander knows clearly that these soldiers are very handy, and the only thing they lack is sense of responsibilities. Xiao-hua’s hardworking attitude inspired and helped these soldiers morale. Later, Xiao-hua stays in the hospital for not feeling well. He then discovered that he will die soon. Now his biggest dream is to put on a mighty soldier uniform and to inspect troops. After these soldiers find out about his dream, they decide to help him and strive for the supervisor’s approvals. Finally, after military officers approvals, Xiao-hua is able to, weakly, inspect the troops in his beloved uniform. When orderly troops march and salute to him, he feels that his life, though facing pain and death, is still full of glory and pride.
Synopsis This story takes place in 1945 in mainland China, The young girl ZHAO Ningjing has fallen in love with her distant older cousin LIN Shuangran, even though he is already promised to another. But love knows no master, and the two are willing to face the difficult road they have chosen. However, fate toys with them as only fate can do, and their overly cautious behavior as well as others’ ill intentions combine to force this romance ultimately, sadly, to come to a close. At this point, ZHAO has no choice but to wed a wealthy man whom she does not love, HSIUNG Yingsheng. HSIUNG is a narrow-hearted individual who knows that LIN is his competition and deliberately sets him up for failure. LIN leaves his hometown and disappears from the scene. Then follow the political upheavals of the era. It is now 20 years later, and ZHAO and LIN unexpectedly encounter each other in Hong Kong. LIN finds out that after ZHAO married HSIUNG, she refused to have children, and as a result, was virtually exiled from her own marriage. Her life has become nothing more than a series of hollow, meaningless days. LIN remained single but is now a sick old man nearing his 50’s. These two former lovers meet up with the hope of making up for lost time—but find that they are left with few remnants of their youthful passion. Nevertheless, ZHAO is determined not to lose her love once again and consequently divorces HSIUNG, intending to spend her remaining years with LIN. But LIN’s love for her means that he has different plans for their future…
Synopsis For the past forty years, Ah Long has headed up a traditional Chinese musical troupe. But times are changing, and the troupe members leaving one by one, Ah Hui, is an aimless slacker with no plans for the future. Ah Hui’s best friend is Ah Gou, a young man who works as a welder making metal gates. One day, Ah Gou finds out that the two doors to their local temple, with door gods painted on them, are in fact antiques of great value. Desperate for money, he and Ah Hui steal the doors and sell them to a dealer in stolen artifacts next time Ah Gou visits the dealer to sell him something, he discovers him lying on the floor, dead. Just as Ah Gou is picking up the gun which he has found next to the body, the police arrive, and in a panic, he takes the gun with him and runs away. Ah Long has won round-trip tickets to New York city in the local gambling pool. He and his wife, along with a few other friends, travel in a small tour group to Manhattan. One day they are all having a meal in an American restaurant, they discover the stolen doors of the temple in their small town back in Taiwan being used as decoration in the main dining area. They negotiate with the owner to buy the doors from him, and they ship them back. That night they celebrate their accomplishment with a round of drinks. Ah Gou is desperately fleeing the authorities and seeks shelter with Ah Hui, hiding in Ah Ming’s pigeon coop. Ultimately, to the sound of Ah Long and the other tour group members’ cheerful singing under the bright lights of New York City, there is a final shootout between the police, Ah Gou, and Ah Hui on the rooftop in Taipei.
