''The Great Buddha+'' is a 2017 Taiwanese

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

film written and directed by Huang Hsin-yao. It is Huang's feature film directorial debut. It won the top prize at the 19th

Taipei Film Festival The Taipei Film Festival (TFF; ) is a film festival promoted by the city of Taipei, Taiwan, through the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Taipei City Government. It was first held in 1998, from September 28 to October 5. Currently chaired by ...

and received 10 nominations at the 54th Golden Horse Awards, winning Best Adapted Screenplay and Best New Director for Huang. It was released in theaters on October 13, 2017. It was selected as the Taiwanese entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

91st Academy Awards The 91st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2018 and took place on February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the ceremony, ...

, but it was not nominated.

Premise

The night security guard at a

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

statue factory, along with his friend, a recyclables collector, becomes entangled in a web of dark secrets after stumbling upon videos that document the promiscuous meetings of the factory's wealthy owner.

Cast

* Cres Chuang as Pickle *

Bamboo Chen Bamboo Chen Chu-sheng (; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tân Tek-seng; born 6 August 1975) is a Taiwanese actor, acting coach and producer. He is best known for his roles in '' Zone Pro Site'', ''The Great Buddha + ''The Great Buddha+'' is a 2017 Taiwanese d ...

as Belly Button *

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 Kevin * Na Dow as Peanut * Chang Shao-huai as Sakya * Ting Kuo-lin as Yeh Feng-ju * JC Lei as Gucci *

Chen Yi-wen Chen Yi-wen (; born 1966) is a Taiwanese filmmaker and actor. Career While Taiwanese directors are often associated with slower-paced, personal art films, Chen decided early on when he entered the film industry that he wanted to produce high ...

as Kao * Vincent Liang as Police chief * Yu An-shun as Police officer *

Jutoupi Jutoupi (sometimes Jutopi) is a Taiwanese pop artist who brought a new musical style to Asia in 1994.''Billboard'' (May 20, 1995) ''Magic Stone Music: Alternative Music Trailblazer.'' Page S19. Through his Funny Rap album series, Jutoupi focused ...

as Singer * Lee Yung-feng as Deputy speaker *

Lin Mei-hsiu Lin Mei-hsiu (; born 6 June 1967) is a Taiwanese actress and television host. Filmography Television series Film Variety show Music video Theater Discography Singles Awards and nominations References External links * * ...

as Senior * Cheng Yu-tong (Evelyn Cheng) as Kao's secretary * Hsien Tuo (as Tuo-Shen Chen) as Pickle's Uncle

Production

The film is an extension of director Huang Hsin-yao's 2014

Golden Horse Award The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is us ...

-nominated short, ''The Great Buddha'' (大佛). According to Huang, the inclusion of "+" in the feature's title is a reference to the Apple smartphone iPhone 6 Plus, which was released around the time when he began expanding his short to a feature. In an interview, Huang also clarified that ''The Great Buddha+'' was not shot on iPhone.

Awards and nominations

References

External links