Archive of films Trigger / Ko Ban Ji

Taiwan
2002, 103 min

Section: Another View
Year: 2003

Middle-aged Gui is a hired assassin. But he’s fed up with this life and wants to start again with a clean slate. So he gives himself up to the police and is sent behind bars. His fellow inmate Hong is a young student who doesn’t know what to do with his life. Companionship develops between the two men of different generations, but their friendship will be put to the test…

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”.

Contacts

Good Film Co.
3A, No. 9, San Min Road, 105, Taipei
Taiwan
Tel: +886 2 275 316 35
Fax: +886 2 276 051 88
E-mail: [email protected]

Sinomovie.com Co., Ltd.
2F, No. 4, 186 Lane, Xing-yi Rd., 112, Taipei
Taiwan
Tel: 886-2-28 74 21 79
Fax: 886-2-28 74 21 79

Centre culturel de Taiwan
78, rue de l'Universite, 75007, Paris
France
Tel: +33 1 443 988 39
Fax: +33 1 443 988 79

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About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section:	Another View

Director:	Alex Yang
Screenplay:	Alex Yang
Dir. of Photography:	Huai En Chen
Music:	Tai Ming Li, Song En Hu
Editor:	Bo Wen Chen
Producer:	Alex Yang, Hsiu Chiung Chiang
Production:	Sinomovie.com Co., Ltd.
Cast:	Ming Ran Ni, Kelly Ko, Xing Hong Cai, Hui Ni Xu, Chuan Zheng Tao, Qi Yang, Ya Xuan Li, Qi Dong You, Ru Ying Cai
Contact:	Good Film Co. , Sinomovie.com Co., Ltd., Centre culturel de Taiwan