Country guide · Asia
10 Essential Films from Taiwan + 6 Movies Set in or About Taiwan
Taiwan on the atlas: the strongest films of its own cinema, and the films the rest of the world has set there. Every list is curated and ranked by hand.
10 Essential Films from Taiwan
Native cinema in Taiwan’s own creative voice — the passport route that earns visas and citizenship.
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1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
In Qing-dynasty China, two master warriors pursue a stolen legendary sword and cross paths with a rebellious young noblewoman torn between duty and desire, in a tale of honor, love, and gravity-defying combat. Ang Lee's ravishing, Oscar-winning martial-arts epic.
Curator’s note: Candidate native film held back by curator: missing accepted native-language fit, sole country-origin evidence, or explicit web-curated primary-country evidence.
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2. Lust, Caution
In Japanese-occupied Shanghai, a young woman in a resistance cell is tasked with seducing and setting up a powerful collaborator for assassination, but as she draws close she finds her loyalties dangerously blurred. Ang Lee's tense, sensual espionage drama.
Curator’s note: Candidate native film held back by curator: missing accepted native-language fit, sole country-origin evidence, or explicit web-curated primary-country evidence.
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3. Yi Yi
Across the ordinary joys and quiet crises of a middle-class Taipei family — a father at a crossroads, a lovelorn daughter, a philosophical little boy with a camera — this expansive drama finds the whole of life. Edward Yang's serene, humane masterpiece.
Curator’s note: Edward Yang's Taiwanese family epic about Taipei middle-class life across generations.
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4. A Brighter Summer Day
In the anxious world of 1960s Taipei, a teenage boy caught among street gangs, first love, and the pressures of a displaced mainland family drifts toward tragedy. Edward Yang's sprawling, luminous epic of youth based on a true crime.
Curator’s note: A Taiwanese Mandarin epic about youth, crime, family, and social change in 1960s Taipei.
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5. A City of Sadness
Spanning the turbulent years after Japan's departure from Taiwan, this drama follows one family torn apart by the political repression of the White Terror. Hou Hsiao-Hsien's stately, sorrowful landmark of Taiwanese cinema.
Curator’s note: A Taiwanese historical drama about the February 28 Incident and postwar identity.
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6. A Touch of Zen
A humble village painter is drawn into the plight of a mysterious woman fleeing corrupt officials, aided by warrior monks, in an ever-deepening tale of swordplay, intrigue, and spiritual transcendence. King Hu's ravishing, influential wuxia masterpiece.
Curator’s note: A Taiwanese wuxia landmark by King Hu and one of Taiwan cinema's major international classics.
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7. Secret
A gifted piano student at a Taipei music school falls for a mysterious girl who plays a haunting melody no one else seems to know, a romance bound up with a secret that defies time. Jay Chou's tender, magical musical drama.
Curator’s note: Secret ranked among the strongest verified Taiwan-authored features for craft, enduring reputation, influence, and importance within the national cinema.
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8. The Assassin
In 9th-century China, a young woman raised from childhood as a lethal assassin is ordered to kill the powerful cousin she was once betrothed to, forcing a reckoning between duty and heart. Hou Hsiao-Hsien's exquisitely spare, painterly wuxia.
Curator’s note: The Assassin ranked among the strongest verified Taiwan-authored features for craft, enduring reputation, influence, and importance within the national cinema.
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9. Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale
In 1930s Japanese-occupied Taiwan, the leader of an indigenous Seediq clan rallies his people in a doomed but fierce uprising to defend their land, honor, and way of life. A sweeping, brutal historical war epic based on true events.
Curator’s note: Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale ranked among the strongest verified Taiwan-authored features for craft, enduring reputation, influence, and importance within the national cinema.
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10. A Sun
A Taipei family already strained by disappointment is pushed to the breaking point when one son is imprisoned and tragedy strikes, testing the limits of duty, forgiveness, and love. Chung Mong-hong's quietly devastating, acclaimed drama.
Curator’s note: A Sun ranked among the strongest verified Taiwan-authored features for craft, enduring reputation, influence, and importance within the national cinema.
6 Movies Set in or About Taiwan
Outside filmmakers looking toward Taiwan: optional perspectives for a wider journey.
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1. Rainy Dog
A Japanese hitman stranded in Taiwan, taking jobs from a local crime boss, has his solitary life upended when a woman from his past leaves a young son with him. Takashi Miike's moody, melancholy crime drama.
Curator’s note: Rainy Dog is a strong foreign-authored film whose sustained setting or subject engages with Taiwan.
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2. Begging for Love
A Japanese woman traveling to Taiwan to find her late father's grave unearths painful memories of the abuse she suffered as a child at her mother's hands. A wrenching family drama.
Curator’s note: Begging for Love is a strong foreign-authored film whose sustained setting or subject engages with Taiwan.
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3. Killer Not Stupid
Two bumbling assassins planning one final job before retirement run into a former classmate and get tangled up with a drug lord's goddaughter, in a chaotic mix of action and comedy. A Taiwanese-Singaporean caper.
Curator’s note: Killer Not Stupid is a strong foreign-authored film whose sustained setting or subject engages with Taiwan.
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4. Tigertail
An aging Taiwanese immigrant looks back on the sweetheart he left behind and the sacrifices of his youthful journey to America, as he tries to bridge the distance with his estranged grown daughter. Alan Yang's tender, bittersweet drama.
Curator’s note: Tigertail is a strong foreign-authored film whose sustained setting or subject engages with Taiwan.
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5. Formosa Betrayed
In the early 1980s, an FBI agent investigating the murder of a Taiwanese professor in America uncovers a web of political intrigue and state violence reaching back to Taiwan's authoritarian regime. A political thriller inspired by true events.
Curator’s note: A political thriller centered on Taiwan's martial-law-era repression and diaspora activism.
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6. Five Gents Fly to Taiwan
When a food-company president is kicked upstairs to chairman but refuses to let go of the reins, confusion and comic chaos engulf the office — spilling over into a business trip to Taiwan. A Japanese salaryman comedy.
Curator’s note: Five Gents Fly to Taiwan is a strong foreign-authored film whose sustained setting or subject engages with Taiwan.
Selected by the FilmsAroundThe.World editorial desk
Lists are ranked for craft, enduring reputation, influence, and depth of engagement with place. Native selections require a verified creative relationship to the country; souvenir selections require an outside creative lead and a country-centered story. Read the methodology.
Editorial review: 2026-07-13
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