A Borrowed Life

Taiwan's foremost scriptwriter turned director to make this sprawling and highly resonant autobiographical film. Spanning the years from his childhood in the 1950s to the present, it centres on his often difficult relationship with his father, a coal miner turned gold miner who considered himself Japanese rather than Chinese and never fulfilled his role as head of the family. Wu not only uses his own story as a yardstick for the social, cultural and economic changes Taiwan has seen over four decades, but offers an indelible picture of the mining community in which he grew up. Regrettably, the protracted closing scenes flirt with the clichés of melodrama.