Cape No. 7 (; ) is a 2008 Taiwanese romantic musical drama film written and directed by Wei Te-sheng, his first full-length motion picture. The film is in Taiwanese and Mandarin with significant lines in Japanese. Before its commercial release, the film had its world premiere on 20 June 2008 at the 2008 Taipei Film Festival as the opening film. The film later won 3 awards at the festival.
Prior to this film, the two leading actors Van Fan and Chie Tanaka only had minor acting experience while some of the supporting roles were filled by non-actors. Even without a strong promotional campaign, the film became hugely popular in Taiwan that on 1 November 2008 it became the second highest-grossing film in the country's cinematic history, behind James Cameron's Titanic. The film has grossed over US$13,804,531 since its release. It is also currently the highest grossing Taiwanese domestic film.
The film has won 15 awards to date, including 6 at the 2008 Golden Horse Awards. It was also Taiwan's entry to compete in the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, although it did not secure a nomination.
Plot
In the 1940s near the end of the Japanese occupation 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.
Meanwhile, 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.
Cast
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. 7s 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.