Article/Photo by William Kustiono
Edit by Gai DaGai
On Wednesday, June 5, 2013, we had a movie screening at Saint Luke’s Church, Forest Hills Queens. The movie was “Love is Sin” directed by Huang Chaoliang starring Mu-yi Chen, Edwin Gerard, Mei- Shiu Lin, and Jay Wei. “Love is Sin,” is different from the typical Chinese love drama. In this review, we are going into a deeper understanding about the real message contained in the movie.
“Love is Sin” is a story set in a traditional village in the Taiwan’s mountain. The story revolves around four prominent characters; A-Mien, Midori, Yabi, and Jimmy. A-mien is a kindhearted shop owner, whom the villagers calls her “Aunt A-mien” as a symbol of her caring towards children in the mountain. Midori is the postman who delivers goods and provides transportation for people in the area. Yabi is the boy who lives with his grandparents because he lost his father due to a car accident. Jimmy who just arrived at the village in the beginning of the story is described as foreign mountaineer who can speak English and Chinese, whom the villagers believe he is a priest. When A-Mien requests Jimmy to teach her and Yabi some English, they also start to learn about Christianity. After starting the English lesson, there comes a sense of change through out the village, stirring up much curiosity amongst the fellow villagers. As the story progresses, we discover that A-Mien, Midori, Yabi, and Jimmi each carry their own load of guilt and regret, of which they have bottled up inside for too long.
The story combines the culture between the traditional Taiwanese with modern western culture. A-Mien in the movie is described as a Daoism or Buddhism practitioner. Jimmy, who teaches English to A-Mien and Yabi, also help them with their regrets.
In the movie discussion, Reverend Thomas F. Reese mentioned about Taiwan is consisted of 3% Christianity and 97% Buddhism or Daoism. He believed that this movie intersects both modern Christianity and traditional Daoism/Buddhism belief. The villagers are used to practice this traditional religious belief, which is the reason why there is a sense of change in the village when A-Mien begins to practice Christianity.
Why “Love is Sin” is the title of the movie? When the title is directly translated to English, it means, “Stars in the daytime sky”. Perhaps the movie director wants to gain audience’s attention by creating a catchy title. Love is Sin sounds more poetic than Stars in the Daytime Sky. As the movie progresses, Love is not really sinful. Just because they are regretting about something happened in their pasts, does not mean they are sinful for everything that they have done up until now.
Love is just one of the elements contained in the movie. Hope is the main elements in the movie. Each characters posses a sight of hope, a hope that will guide their future, a hope to continue living without regretting their past lives. Love is Sin shows an effort to capture the rhythms of small-town Taiwan life and showcases the beautiful scenery of aboriginal villages.
LOVE IS SIN is chosen in these film festivals.
2013 Newport Beach Film Festival
2013 CinemAsia Film Festival
2012 World Film Festival of Bangkok
2011 HAWAII International Film Festival
2011 Macaw International Movie Festival
For more, please visit http://www.facebook.com/loveissin2012
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