''March of Happiness'' is a

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...

film directed by

Lin Cheng-sheng Lin Cheng-sheng (; born 31 March 1959) is a Taiwanese film director. His 1997 film '' Sweet Degeneration'' was entered into the 48th Berlin International Film Festival. He won the Silver Bear for Best Director for '' Betelnut Beauty'' in 2001. F ...

. It tells the story of a teenage romance in a performing troupe set against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation and the 228 Massacre. Several characters are either historical or based on historical people. The film was Taiwan's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the

72nd Academy Awards The 72nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored films released in 1999 and took place on March 26, 2000, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST ...

, but did not manage to receive a nomination.* The film was also screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the

1999 Cannes Film Festival The 52nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 12 to 23 May 1999. Canadian filmmaker, actor and author David Cronenberg was the Jury President. The Palme d'Or went to the French–Belgian film ''Rosetta'' by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The festiv ...

. There are two slightly different versions. In the TV version shown on

Formosa Television Formosa Television () is a television station based in New Taipei, Taiwan. Established on March 27, 1996, FTV began broadcasting on June 11, 1997. Formosa Television is also the first free-to-air television station which was established witho ...

, the film ends with both protagonists singing the theme song together, even though the male protagonist was already dead. In the cinema version, the film ends with the female protagonist singing the song by herself in a much slower tempo. The TV version is about 9 minutes longer.

Cast

Lim Giong Lim Giong (; born 7 June 1964) is a Taiwanese musician, DJ, actor, and an active figure in the Taiwanese experimental electronic music scene. He is known for recording rock songs in Taiwanese Hokkien, starting with his first hit song "Marching F ...

as A Jin * Hsiao Shu-shen as A Yu * Grace Chen as Cigarette woman *

Lung Shao-hua Lung Shao-hua (; 25 March 1953 – 14 September 2021) was a Taiwanese actor, singer and television host. Lung was found unresponsive in Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City ( Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāo ...

as Sea Dragon *

Chen Ming-chang Chen Ming-chang (陳明章) (born July 4, 1956) is a Taiwanese folk singer, guitarist, Taiwanese yueqin player, composer, and producer born in Beitou. He is known for writing scores for the Hou Hsiao-Hsien films ''Dust in the Wind'' (1985) and ' ...

as Hsian Ge *

Leon Dai Leon Dai (, born 27 July 1966) is a Taiwanese actor and film director. His film ''Cannot Live Without You'' was Taiwan's submission to the 82nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. The film also won two awards at the 46th Golden Hor ...

as Zhan Tian-ma *

Doze Niu Doze Niu (, also known as Niu Chen-zer; born June 22, 1966) is a Taiwanese actor, film director, show host, screenwriter, and producer. As a film director, he is best known for the Taiwanese film '' Monga''. Early life Niu was born in Taipei, T ...

as A Bao

References

External links

* * arch of Happiness "March of Happiness,"Review by Shelly Kraicer Hokkien-language films 1999 films 1990s historical drama films 1999 romantic drama films Films directed by Lin Cheng-sheng Films set in the 1940s Taiwanese historical drama films Taiwanese romantic drama films Films set in Taiwan Films shot in Taiwan Films about musical theatre 1990s historical romance films Taiwanese historical romance films {{Taiwan-film-stub