《父後七日》 7 Days in Heaven

This film is simple, unforced and is carried off with a certain earnestness of emotion which lends the whole film sincerity. The father of the central character Mei, dies and the film follows the proceedings after his death: the complicated rites of a traditional Taiwanese funeral interspersed with the personal grieving process of each of the characters in the film. The understated and subtle acting brings genuine emotion and laughter to the film, which also seems to capture something that is very Taiwanese. This being said, the film has a universal appeal in the way it addresses the grieving process, with all its performed grief, the gentle humour and the unexpressed sadness that underpins the passing of a relative.

Great comic moments pervaded the whole film, the beer towers, the fake crying at random times, the jokes between brother and sister. The memories and the brief moments of grief throw the more light hearted parts of the film into relief.

This film far outreaches recent Taiwanese films in its uncontrived direction. It is comparable to Hou Xiaoxian's Dust in the Wind ( 戀戀風塵) in its easy handling of the Taiwanese character, without the heaviness of Hou's films, and with a lot more humour.



English Subs Trailer:

(絕色 Juese Cinema 7 is showing the film with English Subtitles)
Film Rating 5/5

The book it's based on is available at 誠品 (Eslite) and 博客來：

父後七日