The Great Buddha+
大佛普拉斯
Taiwan | 2017 | 104 minutes | Drama, Black Comedy | Taiwanese dialect, Mandarin (English subtitles)
Director: HUANG Hsin-Yao | Cast: Cres CHUANG, Bamboo CHEN, Leon DAI, CHEN Yi-wen
Description
Grand Prize, 2017 Taipei Film Festival
NETPAC Award, 2017 Toronto International Film Festival
Official Selection, 2017 Busan International Film Festival
In this side-splitting satire of social inequality, two bumpkins’ addiction to naughty dash-cam videos lands them in big trouble. Taiwan’s digital answer to REAR WINDOW.
Pickle (Cres Chuang), a meek security guard working graveyard shifts at a bronze statue factory, enjoys killing time by hanging out with his best friend Belly Button (Bamboo Chen). One night, Belly Button gets the idea of browsing through dash-cam footage from the car of Pickle’s boss. This voyeuristic portal into the debauchery of the rich becomes an obsession for the two – until they stumble upon a video that reveals a dark secret.
A stylish noir-thriller that’s also immensely funny, THE GREAT BUDDHA+ exposes the social and financial disparity in Taiwan society. A quirky, dark comedy that tips its hat at the Coen Brothers, Huang Hsin-Yao’s critically acclaimed debut swept the major film awards in Taiwan and signals the arrival of a major talent.
See more: Rialto Website and Cinemasia Film Festival Website
Text source and photocredit: Cinemasia Film Festival
