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Product Detail |
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Audio Format: DD 2.0 Stereo Video Format: Widescreen 1.85:1 Languages: Mandarin, Cantonese Subtitles: English Region Code: ALL Year Made: 2004 Running Time: 93
A young man sets out into Taipei's gay community in search of love, and finds that his concept of "true love" may be somewhat antiquated in today's world of multiple partners and fast-paced lifestyles.
 Formula 17 can be seen as one of those rare finds, not only because it is a gay romantic comedy, but it is also one of the few Taiwanese movies that discards the "tradition" of social realism. It is a commercial drama, sugar-coated with good-looking actors, bright colors, designer fashions and furniture. The movie does not intend to delve into deeper meaning about society or human feelings, as many other Taiwanese filmmakers try to do. As pure entertainment, it is indeed a different breed of Taiwanese movie.
Tien (Tony Yang, ????h) is a naive 17 year-old boy from southern Taiwan and goes to Taipei in search of his dream lover. He stays with his high school friend Yu (King Chin, ????), a popular DJ at a gay bar.
 Under the instruction of Yu and his campy friends, Tien learns to dress up and tries a few blind dates. He meets Pai (Duncan), the most chased (gay) bachelor in town and immediately falls for him. But Tien's "sisters" all advise him to stay away from this dangerous attraction, for Pai is a well-known playboy who, unlike the naive Tien, does not believe in love.
Formula 17 is surely trying to create a gay utopian vision of Taipei where there are no women, no heterosexual men, only pretty-looking or muscular gay men in bars, fashion stores or men's gyms. The underlying theme is love and believing in love.
In contrast to many Western gay movies such as The Birdcage or The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, there are no mentions of drag queens or transvestite phenomena, though there are some characters who have exaggerated camp qualities.
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