March of Happiness

Directed by Lin Cheng-sheng, March of Happiness is set in Taiwan between the end of Japanese rule and the eve of the 228 Incident, and unfolds around the Bolero Café, a well-known cultural gathering place in Taipei’s Dadaocheng. Through the love story of A-chin, a young man returned from study in Japan, and Nuan-yu, an actress with a theatre troupe, and through the artists, intellectuals and ordinary people who gather at the café, it draws the hope and unease of a population living through a change of regime.

The film binds personal fate tightly to a decisive turn in Taiwanese history, setting love, culture and ideals against the current of the times as the 228 Incident breaks. It is both an important work of Taiwanese New Cinema and a classic that looks back on modern Taiwanese history through the lives of its characters. It was selected for Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 1999 and won Best Original Film Song at the Golden Horse Awards, among other honours.