Together

A neighbourhood’s lives and loves intertwine in this almost novelistic first feature by Taiwanese director Rox Hsu. Seen mostly through the eyes of 17-year-old Xiao Yang (the film’s Chinese title means “Dream, 17”), Together’s various story lines cycle through several families who live on the same street in contemporary Taipei. Xiao Yang is a patient observer, but not a neutral one: most of the love letters that charmingly still circulate in this working-class Taipei community pass through his hands, and he’s the catalyst of several of the story’s love affairs. His hard-working parents’ marriage is slowly, almost amicably, unwinding: mother (veteran actress producer Li Lieh) runs a noodle stall and father (1980s Taiwan/Hong Kong cinema and music star Kenny Bee) owns an old-fashioned (non-digital) print shop. Their community includes a cosplay costume vendour, a Japanese-Taiwanese newlywed couple, and Xiao Yang’s sometimes violent, sometimes romantically inclined, classmates. Everyone seems to be in the process of breaking up or finding a new lover.

Hsu has previously worked under both Chang Tso-chi and Edward Yang, and, while he pays tribute to their complex, multi-threaded, subtly modulated narrative styles, his film speaks in an utterly original voice. Using neither voice-over nor close-ups, Hsu’s beautifully framed long shots, superbly colourful backgrounds and realistic mise-en-scène give this film a naturalistic power and gracefully detailed lucidity. We are gently induced to interpret, to be active participants in framing the story. The result is a fully achieved first film of tangible power and abundant humanity.

— Shelly Kraicer