Café. Waiting. Love (2014)

Plot summary (story synopsis): University freshman Si-Ying (Vivian Sung) works at a cafe. She encounters various quirky personalities including the cafe's depressed owner (former pop star Vivian Chow), stern barista Abusi (Megan Lai), legendary university prankster A-Tuo (Bruce Lu-Si Bu), handsome flirt Zeyu (Marcus Chang) and former actor Brother Bao (Lee Luo).

***

"Café. Waiting. Love" is a sweet, whimsical romantic comedy. It's more a series of vignettes or multiple subplots - in the parochial style of Amelie - than a conventional plot-driven movie.

But it works. The adorable Vivian Sung deftly carries the movie. She's feisty, cute and girl-next-door approachable, not too glamorous (that would be Vivian Chow). Bruce Lu-Si Bu doesn't have quite the same impact - his goofy persona isn't particularly endearing or impressive. And that's okay. This is Vivian Sung's show and she is up to the task.

The other actors stack up pretty well. Megan Lai is striking in her small but impactful role as the unsmiling ace barista who concocts weird, customized drinks for customers. Vivian Chow is surprisingly effective as the sad cafe owner, pining after her dead lover (she seemed like a bubblehead when she was a pop star). 

Written (novel and script) by young (born 1978) Taiwanese author Giddens Ko (You Are the Apple of My Eye), this is the kind of hip and stylish movie that makes you believe in an international youth culture. It's the world of 1970's TV's Big Blue Marble (gawd, I'm old) or Thomas Friedman's Flat World.

A world where urbanites all over the world share the same kumbaya liberal values and Starbucks tastes, but retain a few of their own cute cultural idiosyncrasies (Si-Ying's roommate practices Iron Head Kung-fu, by repeatedly bashing her head with a brick). It's a world many of us want to believe in. But looking at today's headlines, would be foolish to believe exists outside a thin demographic of middle-class, westernized societies.

I'm not saying that the movie consciously pushes this ideology. I'm saying that writer Giddens Ko and first-time director Chin-Lin Chiang are naturally citizens of the world. "Café. Waiting. Love" is a fun and lightweight movie that makes no demands on an international audience, because its worldview is a westernized worldview that today passes for international culture. And there's nothing wrong with that - both being lightweight and having a westernized worldview.

I'm a story guy and I normally look at movies from a storytelling perspective. But I was really struck by the modern, almost hipster, sensibility of this movie. It's a world away from Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, Tsui Hark, Wong Jing, Johnnie To and Wong Kar Wai. 

I do have a few gripes. The magical roast sausages are a bridge too far (and are unnecessary) but they hardly mar this charming little movie. For quirky magic, the underrated Simply Irresistible (1999, Sarah Michelle Gellar) is much better.

However, considering how crude and clueless contemporary Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China movies can be; this movie is a treat. There's more to Chinese cinema than martial arts and costumed, historical dramas.