Once upon a time (a decade ago), the unspoken consensus in the movie world seemed to be that Asians couldn¡¯t do love stories, much less musical love stories. Happy, soaring, blockbuster types that would send audiences home with goofy smiles and humming a tune from the soundtrack? Not happening.
¡°I used to think so, too,¡± says Wei Te-Sheng, the Taiwanese director and co-writer of the uplifting musical love story ¡°52Hz, I Love You.¡± ¡°Actually, I think that, because Asians are new to this genre, there¡¯s a lot of potential for growth. Personally, I had to get over my own hang-ups about the genre, and about love stories in general.¡±
Indeed, cinema reels of romantic joy are not what you¡¯d normally associate with Wei, who cut his teeth as an assistant director to Edward Yang, who spearheaded Taiwan¡¯s new wave and won a best director prize at Cannes for the 2000 film ¡°Yi Yi.¡±
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