6 Best Movies Set in or About Taiwan

6 Movies Set in or About Taiwan

Foreign-led films whose sustained setting or subject remains centered on Taiwan.

1. 

   1. Rainy Dog

   極道黒社会 · 1997

   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.

2. 

   2. Begging for Love

   愛を乞うひと · 1998

   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.

3. 

   3. Killer Not Stupid

   杀手不笨 · 2019

   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.

4. 

   4. Tigertail

   2020

   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.

5. 

   5. Formosa Betrayed

   2009

   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.

   Why & details

   Curator’s note: A political thriller centered on Taiwan's martial-law-era repression and diaspora activism.

6. 

   6. Five Gents Fly to Taiwan

   社長学ABC · 1970

   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.