"He wasn't a man - he was a way of life!": Life in post-Confucian Taiwan
Lu Hsiao-Fen's quasi-traditional, yet hot-tempered, village girl rules the camera.
But the story actually centers on Chao Shu-Hai's village boy, telling of his school/work life, and hinting at his background and inner turmoil. Bright and articulate, outwardly he embodies the Confucian ideals of hard work and education, yet his obsession with career success - at the expense of work and personal relations - leaves him morally muddled.
The disposition of Lu Hsiao-Fen's village girl is contrasted with that of her buddy. All three come from the same village and tradition, yet each devises a unique personal strategy for fulfilling dreams, while adapting to the amorality of the city, and avoiding being left behind during Taiwan's era of rapid industrialization.
And even the rich city girl is struggling through a similar dilemma: adapting her ineffectual classical
Chinese art training to her modern need and urge to break out of her cloistered lifestyle.
In short, this film looks at the same issues that are later explored in the "New Taiwanese Cinema", but viewed through the
sensationalist lens of "Taiwan Black Movies", thus straddling genres and acting as a unique transition or bridge between the two.