Directed by Wang Tong
116 min | Taiwan | Mandarin with Chinese and English subtitles
Rating: NC16 (Some coarse language)
SINGAPORE PREMIERE
Restored Version

Tempted by tales of sweet bananas, a naïve young man follows the Kuomintang forces from China to Taiwan in 1949. He adopts false names and adjusts to life in Taiwan amidst turbulent socio-economic changes. Banana Paradise addresses the cruelties of martial law as a tragicomic melodrama, rural-urban migration, and the demands of modernisation. Director Wang Tong was a veteran in set design for directors including King Hu, Li Hsing and Pai Jing-jui before making his feature film debut in 1981. His works can be situated between the generational shift, combining sentimentality with socio-political critique.

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