Shangguan
DiDi and Shangguan Lingling are like the Taiwanese Redgraves or Gishes, except
these acting sisters have been long estranged. Frankly, Lingling the box-office
superstar, would question her sister’s thespian credentials. After years of
scuffling, she has finally broken out as a star of viral comedy videos and
demeaning game shows. Yet, they are poised to co-star in a massive new
historical epic, until fate threatens to intervene once again in Kevin Tsai’s Didi’s Dreams (trailer here), which opens
tomorrow in New York.
Didi
aspires to acting stardom, but she dreams of Xu Chunmei, the proprietor of a
galactic noodle shop. She is convinced these dreams mean something, possibly
linking her to another dreamer. She and Lingling were once close. In fact, Lingling
largely raised Didi after the untimely death of their mother. Yet, when her
career took off, she refused to use her connections on Didi’s behalf, insisting
she follow the unwritten “rules.” Didi’s resulting career frustrations ultimately
led to bitterness and a long-term rupture in their relationship. Now her world
mostly consists of embarrassing auditions and the consolation of her loyal best
friend and lover, Kouzi.
Ironically,
just as Didi starts to breakout, Lingling’s career is threatened by an adultery
scandal. In a further tragic irony, soon after Didi accepts a role alongside
her sister, she receives some distressing news. Meanwhile, Xu’s love life is
also pretty disappointing.
The
very first scene, featuring Xu, is really wild. Soon thereafter, when the first
act focuses on Didi and her humiliations, it gets uncomfortably cringey. Yet,
rather counter-intuitively, as the film cranks up the tragedy it also becomes
more endearing. In fact, Tsai manages to have his cake and eat it too, giving
viewers both a tearjerker ending and a sentimental, romantic sign-off. The way
he does so would feel like a cheat if he did not commit so wholeheartedly to
it.
Dee
Hsu (a.k.a. Little S., Tsai’s partner on the popular Taiwanese talk show Kangsi Coming) is quite winning as Didi
and the mysterious Xu. She plays the former with plenty of pluck, but also
believably conveys all the messy and confused emotions roiling inside her. Lin Chi-ling
is aptly cast as the ice queen Shangguan, even if she doesn’t quite stick the
landing for her big pay-off speech.