Somewhere I Have Never Traveled (Mandarin)

Somewhere I Have Never Travelled is a deceptive little film. As a slice of life in rural Taiwan it promises many things overly familiar to anyone who's seen more than a handful of films from the country over the past five years or so. It is wrong to classify this film under gay themed, since it is just that one of the 2 characters happens to be gay and is dealing with it. There is nothing much more than that to this.

Ah-Guei is a fifteen-year-old girl who comes from a family of misfits -- her father is intellectually challenged and cleans streets for a living, while her grandfather is a neighborhood character known for his short temper. While Ah-Guei seems like a happy and well-adjusted girl on the surface, she was born color-blind and cannot see red or green, a seemingly minor disability but one that sets her apart from her classmates. Ah-Guei's most trusted confidante is her twenty-year-old cousin Ah-Xian, who dreams of traveling the world and owns a large collection of maps and books on exotic locales. But Ah-Xian has his own secret -- he's gay, and has never been able to find another man with whom he can have a happy relationship. Ah-Guei and Ah-Xian both share a dream of going away to a place where they won't seem like outsiders, but while Ah-Xian's desire is to move to New York City, Ah-Guei imagines a fantasy world where the colors she cannot see do not exist.

The performances although decent, fail to lift the movie to a different height. There are moments in the film which are empty, pointless. They are visually enchanting but really do not add much to the film. I bet there ar abetter Taiwanese films. The movie’s more comedic sections are fun and, even if slightly contrived, work well in the film's context. I am not too sure what was the intention of the director behind this film.

Lack of any real reason to keep watching means it can't really be recommended. (4/10)