The Trigger

Colour, 35 mm
Taiwan, 2002, 103 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

Middle-aged Gui has long been earning a living as an assassin. After carrying out a questionable commission where he is assigned to kill a dying man, he decides to call it a day. He wants to start afresh. Although he has a young wife who is expecting a child, he gives himself up to the police. The court sentences him to five years’ imprisonment. In prison he meets a young rebel, a student named Hong who was sentenced for abducting a young girl. In their prison cell, the men develop a fragile, father-son relationship. After their release from prison, they together try to face the oppression of reality. Gui has lost most of his possessions and his wife has found someone else; Hong is confused, at a loss and yearning for love. So he throws himself into a relationship with young Coco, the girl he had tried to kidnap. Thus a remarkable triangle is formed, secured by the strongest bond that exists – the desire for happiness.

About the director

Alex Yang (b. 1965), actor, director and screenwriter, studied at Taiwan’s National University of the Arts. He wrote and directed the stage play Candle Sky, the first play to involve disabled Taiwanese students. He then taught acting under the guidance of director Edward Yang during the filming of A One a Two (YiYi). He later established a name for himself as a screenwriter, assistant director and actor in A Brighter Summer Day (1991). For the script for this film he was awarded the prestigious Golden Horse Prize. The Trigger is his directorial debut. Along with directing, Yang teaches acting and is creative director for several multimedia firms. He says of his film: “Five years ago, one of my students was killed in a pub brawl. This incident led me to think about today’s youth and their role in our society. I believe that it is in the love we give to our children that we find our own redemption. This is what the film is about”.