Casting: Chao-The YIN、Yu-Lun KO、Yu-Jie WANG、Yao-Wei SUN
Synopsis Fan Lun-tai was born in the wee hours of February 14th, given a mane that just happens to sound like “valentine.” The young Valentine and his little brother Leonardo are exact opposites, he, talkative and assertive, and Leonardo, reticent and shy. Yet Valentine is also very sensitive, longing for a love as strong as that between his mother and father. He has a crush on one of his classmates, the pigeon-toed and fiercely independent Bo-hsueh-but the tender-hearted little girl is moved by the attentiveness of her swimming teacher, a college student named Hsiao-hu. It is the day of Valentine’s elementary school graduation, and Mrs. Fan is rushing to attend the ceremony with Leonardo, when she is fatally hit by a delivery truck from their own printing factory. From that day on, Valentine sinks into a self-punishing guilt over his mother’s death, and Leonardo vents his anger at the world by hanging out with hooligans. Their father ultimately proves unable to bear the loss and drowns himself in the ocean, and the young brothers are left in the custody of an aunt. The story picks up again ten years later, when the now reclusive Valentine, troublemaker Leonardo, naïve Bo-hsueh, and cocky Hsiao-hu cross paths once more…
Synopsis This is a story from the pages of a guidebook, about that little gap that exists between cities and people. Alex is an American travel column writer who comes to the east coast of Taiwan to do a report on whale watching. He forgets his passport and money on a bus, and as a result, is stuck in a little coastal village waiting for his new passport and documents to be sent to him. Hsiao Qi is a 17-year-old Taiwanese high schooler. One day, she discovers that she is pregnant, decides to go to the Pacific coast and end her own life. But her suicide attempt is foiled by a young Taiwan aborigine who rescues her and brings her to the same little village. Ah Peng is the local authority of this quiet village. Alex’s and Hsiao Qi’s unexpected arrivals are an unwelcome disturbance for him. He hopes to marry his girlfriend Hsiao Jun, Hsiao Mao’s older sister, but Hsiao Jun’s grandmother requires him to follow their tribal traditions and not only enter their family and take on their last name, but to remain in the village as well. Ah Peng, however, dreams of moving to Taipei and furthering his career in the big city. The friendships and conflicts that develop between these individuals make for a few weeks of cultural, romantic, and self discovery, all set against the beautiful backdrop of the eastern coast of Taiwan.
