Congratulations, Taiwan! You made an LGBTQ film! Ummm, now could you make a better one? Oh look, Who’ll Stop the Rain is all historical and crap to boot. Good for you; you have successfully identified one (1!) historical LGBTQ couple. I have no doubt 1994 Taiwanese student protests were every bit as important as other protests in Taiwan, but if you really want to milk the historical flavor out of this historical re-enactment, did you consider, say, Tiananmen Square in 1989? Not Taiwan, true, but not terribly far off either literally or metaphorically, and historically far more attention-grabbing.
I mean, let’s face it, the ballad of Jack and Rose landed in part because the film was Titanic, not Your Dad’s Rowboat, knowwhatI’msayin’?
Chi-wei (Ling-Wei Lee) just can’t not piss off the prof at Taiwan U. (the Chiangin’ Kai-sheks). Chi-na is a punk rocker; she can’t conform, and the prof don’t play that. Is this sexism? Maybe. Hard to say. Her next move is falling in with the protest crowd. I’m surprised she hasn’t gone there before, to be honest. And this is where Chi-wei falls in love.
Wait. Is this The Way We Were? It sounds a lot like The Way We Were, huh?
Well, here’s the thing: instead of falling for the BMOC, or the protest lea
der, Kuang (Roy Chang), Chi-wei falls for Kuang’s girlfriend, Ching (Hsiao-Fei Yeh), which sounds pretty intriguing until you realize this is a Taiwanese film. Yeah, Taiwan has looser controls than China, but -metaphorically speaking- Taiwan’s LGBTQ options is still like rolling one six-sided die when South Korea has an entire D&D gamemaster selection at the ready.
Suffice to say, Who’ll Stop the Rain wanted to be either steamy or rebellious and fell significantly shy of both. This kind of film makes me feel like Taiwan is anywhere from ten to fifty years behind the curve. This might have been an important film in 1970. It might even have been an important film in 2010. In 2023, this is a dull film, even by Taiwanese standards. Ok, good effort. Pat on the back and all that, but please come back when you have a statement that will shock an autocracy or at least be a really good romance. There’s just not much here and it’s two hours long.
There once was a gal named Chi-wei
With rules by which she just don’t play
Took failure with ease
Cuz she got a main squeeze:
Another woman, which in Taiwan is OK
Not Rated, 114 Minutes
Director: Yi-Hsuan Su
Writer: Yi-Hsuan Su
Genre: A look at minor league rebellion
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Desperate LGBTQ fans
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People not in need of a nap
