Cape No 7

Plot

In the 1940s near the end of the Japanese era of Taiwan, an unnamed teacher (Atari) dispatched to the southernmost town of Hengchun falls in love with a local girl with the Japanese name Kojima Tomoko (Liang). After the Surrender of Japan, the teacher is forced to return home as Taiwan was placed under the administrative control of the Republic of China. On his trip home, he pens seven love letters to express his regret for leaving Kojima Tomoko, who originally planned to elope with him to Japan.

More than 60 years later, Aga (Fan), a struggling young rock band singer leaves Taipei to return to his hometown of Hengchun. There, his step father (Ma), the Town Council Representative, arranges a position for him as a postman, replacing the aging Old Mao (C. Lin), on leave after a motorcycle accident broke his leg. One day, Aga comes across an undeliverable piece of mail that was supposed to be returned to the sender in Japan; the daughter of the now deceased Japanese teacher had decided to mail the unsent love letters to Taiwan after discovering them. Aga unlawfully keeps and opens the package to discover its contents, but the old Japanese-style address "Cape No. 7, Kōshun District, Takao Prefecture" can no longer be found.

Meantime a local resort hotel in nearby Kenting National Park is organizing a beach concert featuring Japanese pop singer Kousuke Atari, but Aga's step father makes use of his official position to insist that the opening band be composed of locals. Tomoko (Tanaka), an over-the-hill Mandarin-speaking Japanese fashion model dispatched to Hengchun, is assigned the difficult task of managing this hastily assembled band, led by Aga along with six other locals of rather particular backgrounds. After a frustrating trial period, Aga and Tomoko unexpectedly begin a relationship. With some assistance from hotel maid Mingchu (S. Lin), who is revealed to be Kojima Tomoko's granddaughter, Tomoko helps Aga find the rightful recipient of the seven love letters. Tomoko then tells Aga that she plans on returning to Japan after the concert because of a job offer. After returning the seven love letters, a heartbroken but determined Aga returns to the beach resort and performs a highly successful concert with his local band alongside Kousuke Atari while Kojima Tomoko reads the letters.

Production

The inspiration for Cape No. 7 came in July 2004 when director Wei read a report about a Yunlin postman who successfully delivered a piece of mail addressed in the old Japanese style - the sender was the former Japanese employer of the recipient. Wei decided to make a film based on this story, in the hopes of financing his long-awaited epic film Seediq Bale, which had problems securing financial interest.

By the end of 2006 Wei had finished Cape No. 7's script. He was subsequently awarded NT$ 5 million for winning the "Domestic Film Fund" from Taiwan's Government Information Office. Wei said he picked Hengchun as the film's setting due to its richness in contrasts: mountains along with beaches; the old towns near the modern resort hotels; the aging population with the young working in Taipei; the diversified demographics with Hoklo, Hakka, Mainlanders, Taiwanese aborigines, and international tourists; the weather variation between the tropical southern Taiwan and the snow-laden Japan. Wei believed that such a setting would provide the ideal backdrop for the "harmony in diversity" theme of Cape No. 7.

The film was shot between September and November 2007 in Hengchun and its neighboring Checheng and Manjhou Townships, located on the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County. The set for the 'Hotel Chateau' (where the concert is held and at which model Tomoko stays) was the real life Château Beach Resort at Kenting. A few scenes were also filmed in Fangliao Township and Jiadong Township of Pingtung County, Kaohsiung International Airport, Ximending and Wenshan District in Taipei. The final scene presenting the Japanese teacher (Kousuke Atari) and other Japanese people leaving Taiwan by ship was filmed in an abandoned brewery in Taichung with more than 500 extras. Before filming, Chie Tanaka had been staying in Taiwan for 15 months to study Chinese so she did not have major problems dealing with the Chinese lines in the film. Kousuke Atari played himself and as the 1940s Japanese teacher in this film.

As the production went over budget, Wei had problems securing additional capital; he subsequently refinanced his home and forced his family NT$30 million (approx. $900,000 USD) into debt before release. Cast members Pei-Chen Lee and Chin-Yen Chang revealed that during filming Wei could barely afford the film rolls and lodging for the crew. Wei later said this film's zealous reception should help him manage his debts.

Wei believed "that the films that hit the screens before the end of summer vacation in 2007 were all 'safe bets'", because they avoided competition from Hollywood blockbusters. Wei followed this theory when he released Cape No. 7 in 2008. Besides, Wei focused on the promotion of the film. The film was premiered in July, 2008, and attracted the interest of Buena Vista International, which made 50 copies of the film and distributed them nationally in August.

The film's 133 minute theatrical version was edited from the first cut of 160 minutes. Aga and Tomoko's love scene was shortened, and some of their dialog before the love scene was cut as well. The final version was shortened in Mainland China after the government film agency snipped out over half an hour of the film for political purposes. Nevertheless, rampant piracy in Mainland China saw the unedited version mass distributed via street stalls and the internet.

The film's marketing is combined with extensive merchandise, including original soundtrack CD, books, novelization, accessories, tours and musical concerts. The film contributed tourism for Hengchun, and especially boosted 'Hotel Chateau'. A televised concert was held with actors performing some numbers in the film.

Music

A soundtrack album was released on October 24, 2008 by Forward Music.

1. "The First Letter: "Tomoko, Are You Still Waiting for Me?" (Yukihiko Kageyama)
2. "Don't Wanna" (Van Fan)
3. "The Second Letter: Destiny Is this Era's Sin" (Yukihiko Kageyama)
4. "Love You to Death" (Joanne Yang, etc.)
5. "The Third Letter: Tomoko, I Fell in Love with You at that Moment" (Yukihiko Kageyama)
6. "Where to Go" (Bjanav Zenror)
7. "The Fourth Letter: Why the Sea Breeze Always Brings Weep" (Yukihiko Kageyama)
8. "To Daughter" (Patricia Ho)
9. "The Fifth Letter: Tomoko, I Really Miss You: Ah! Rainbow!" (Yukihiko Kageyama)
10. "As Happy as Can Be" (live version from the film) (Van Fan, Johnny C.J. Lin, Ming Hsiung, Ying Wei-Min, Ma Nien-hsien, Joanne Yang)
11. "The Sixth Letter: I Write My Shame into the Last Letter" (Yukihiko Kageyama)
12. "South of Border" (Van Fan)
13. "Heidenröslein" (Van Fan, Kousuke Atari, Chie Tanaka)
14. "The Seventh and Last Letter" (Van Fan)
15. "1945" (orchestral version)

For an unspecified reason the soundtrack album does not include the film's ending theme, "Beautiful Scenery" performed by Rachel Liang.

Domestic

Although the film only attracted moderate box-office success during its first weeks of release, it was helped by strong word of mouth buzz, mainly in blogs and on the Professional Technology Temple (PTT) Bulletin Board System, eventually leading to its record-breaking box-office performance.

Robert Chen, an assistant professor in the Department of Radio and Television at National Chengchi University, suggests that the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike may have reduced competition and that the distributor avoided a direct scheduling confrontation with The Dark Knight.

Critics attribute the film's box office success to its honest depiction of the rural southern Taiwan; the strong emotional resonance among older viewers; the humorous tone, optimistic characters, and musical performances.

The film was used an example by critics to analyze how film profit is shared in Taiwan. It was estimated that the revenue from the film is around NTD 520 million, and the production cost to be NTD 50 million. After the deducting the production costs, 60% of the profit goes to movie theaters, 10% to the distributor. The director gets 10%, which is about NT$140 million.

International

The film gathered widespread attention at the 2008 Pusan International Film Festival where its broadcasting rights were successfully sold to Hong Kong; South Korea; Malaysia and Brunei, through Astro Entertainment Sdn Bhd and All Asia Multimedia Network, both subsidiaries of Malaysian pay-TV group Astro All Asia Networks; and Singapore. The Hong Kong release date was on November 20, 2008 and the film ranked first during its first week of release. Local critics found this film "civil, humorous, and friendly". The Singapore release date was originally January 1, 2009 but distributors decided to release this film earlier on November 27, 2008 so as to satisfy demand from Singaporeans and to fight piracy. The film made its United States premiere on October 10, 2008 in Honolulu at the Hawaii International Film Festival, where it won the Halekulani Golden Orchid Award for Best Narrative. Its premiere in the Continental United States was on December 12, 2008 in Los Angeles.

Controversies

Home media

On November 14, 2008, Cape No. 7's distributors announced that the film's official DVD/BD release date will be December 19, 2008. On November 30, 2008 the number of copies ordered in advance had reached 23,000, far surpassing the runner-up record holder in Taiwan's cinematic history, The Lion King's 12,000 reservations in 1995.