Tropical Fish () is a

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

ese

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by Chen Yu-hsun. It is an example of

New Taiwanese Cinema The cinema of Taiwan ( zh, t=臺灣電影 or ) is deeply rooted in the island's unique history. Since its introduction to Taiwan in 1901 under Japanese rule, cinema has developed in Taiwan under ROC rule through several distinct stages. It has ...

Plot

The movie tells the story of Liu Chih-chiang (劉志強, played by Lin Chia-hung ��嘉宏, a disaffected

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

high school student who is kidnapped and taken by Ah Ching (阿慶, played by the filmmaker

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 ...

) to rural

Chiayi County Chiayi County (Mandarin pinyin: ''jiā yì xiàn''; Hokkien POJ: ''Ka-gī-koān'') is a county in southwestern Taiwan surrounding but not including Chiayi City. It is the sixth largest county in Taiwan. Name The former Chinese placename was ...

in southern Taiwan.

Locations

Chih-chiang's school scenes were filmed at Bailing Senior High School (百齡高中) in Shilin, Taipei, while several other scenes were filmed in Daan District. The kidnappers hold Chih-chiang in Dongshi, a coastal Chiayi County township noted for its oyster production. The end of the film shows the business district of

Dunhua Road Dunhua Road (), consists of Dunhua North Road () and Dunhua South Road (), also called 12th Ave, is a major north–south arterial in Taipei, Taiwan. It connects the Songshan Airport and the Songshan District in the north with the Daan District ...

in Taipei.

Music

In addition to the music score, two songs by

Wu Bai Wu Chun-lin (; born 14 January 1968), better known by his stage name Wu Bai (), is a Taiwanese rock singer, songwriter and actor. He formed the band Wu Bai & China Blue with Dean Zavolta (drums), Yu Ta-hao (keyboards) and Chu Chien-hui (bass gui ...

& China Blue, "This Continuous Sinking" (繼續墮落) (from their 1994 album ''Wanderer's Love Song'') and "Go to the Graveyard" (墓仔埔也敢去) are featured in the movie. Different (

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

) versions of both songs were released on Wu Bai & China Blue's 1995 live album (伍佰的LIVE'')''.

Awards

At Taiwan's 1995

Golden Horse Film Festival 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 ...

, Chen Yu-hsun won the award for Best Screenplay Originally Written for the Screen and Wen Ying (文英) won Best Supporting Actress for her role as ''Ah Yi'' (阿姨). Chen Yu-hsun was also nominated for a

Golden Leopard The Golden Leopard () is the top prize at the Locarno International Film Festival, an international film festival held annually in Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Directors in the process of getting an international reputation are allowed to be ...

for the film at the 1995

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...

.Locarno International Film Festival: 1995
at the ''

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

''. Retrieved 1 April 2010.

References

External links

* 1995 films 1995 comedy-drama films Taiwanese comedy-drama films Taiwanese-language films 1990s Mandarin-language films Central Motion Picture Corporation films {{1990s-comedy-drama-film-stub