A Chance to Die

Burned by the desire to avenge her dead boyfriend, a Japanese woman learns to shoot a gun, and goes after the local Mafia in Taiwan. Mizuno Miki excels in her role as the grieving and estranged, then vengeful and cold-blooded foreigner. In contrast with the realistic bilingualism that made Chi-Ngai Lee’s Fuyajo, what makes this movie the more interesting, is the fact that the heroine and the antagonists yell at each other without understanding themselves. Director Chen Yi-Wen does not forget to give depth to the Taiwanese gangsters, who live in a society where the code of honor has long been replaced by money. Unfortunately they are the only Taiwanese characters in the story, but each is vividly brought to life by well-casted actors. The Yellow Monkey’s “Holy Sea and Sunshine”‘s cathartic lyrics, and the mastery of lighting, color, and framing deliver this melancholy tale of vendetta with excellence and modesty.