Little Big Women (Chinese: 孤味) is a 2020 Taiwanese drama film directed by Joseph Hsu and produced by Vivian Hsu, adapting from an eponymous 2017 short film. Hsu also stars in a lead role, alongside Chen Shu-fang, Hsieh Ying-xuan, Sun Ke-fang, Ding Ning, and Buffy Chen. The film premiered in October 2020 at the Busan International Film Festival.[1] The film became a box office hit in Taiwan.[2]

Little Big Women
Traditional Chinese孤味
Hanyu PinyinGūwèi
Hokkien POJKo̍-bī
Directed byJoseph Hsu
Written byMaya Huang
Joseph Hsu
Based onGuo Mie (short film)
by Joseph Hsu
Produced byChing-Song Liao
Vivian Hsu
StarringChen Shu-fang
Hsieh Ying-xuan
Vivian Hsu
Sun Ke-fang
Ding Ning
Buffy Chen
CinematographyJon Keng
Music byBlaire Ko
Production
company
Each Other Films
Distributed byVie Vision Pictures (Taiwan; theatrical)
Distribution Workshop (International)
Netflix (Worldwide; OTT)
Release date
  • November 6, 2020 (2020-11-06)
Running time
123 minutes
CountryTaiwan
LanguagesTaiwanese Hokkien
Mandarin
BudgetNT$40 million
Box officeNT$190 million

Plot

edit

Lin Xiu-ying (Chen Shu-fang) is a well-known restaurant owner in Tainan. Without the support of her husband, she has single handedly raised three daughters by selling shrimp rolls at a roadside stall. Since then, her daughters have grown up with remarkable achievements. Her eldest daughter A-Qing (Hsieh Ying-xuan) is an international dancer, the second daughter A-Yu (Vivian Hsu) works as a plastic surgeon in Taipei and has a daughter whom she plans to send to study abroad (Buffy Chen), and the youngest daughter Jia-jia (Sun Ke-fang) oversees the restaurant business. On the day of her 70th birthday, Xiu-ying receives news of her husband's passing. While preparing for his funeral, she unexpectedly meets Ms Tsai (Ding Ning) who accompanied her husband through his old age, grappling with a long-buried resentment held over the years.

Cast

edit

Also appearing in the film are Lung Shao-hua as Chen Bo-chiang (陳伯昌), Lin Sho-ying's husband and the father of the Chen siblings; Weber Yang as a younger version of Bo-chiang; and Chang Han as Yang Cheng-hsien (楊政賢), a fellow surgeon and the husband of Chen Wan-yu. Ning Chang cameos as He Ching-mei (何晴眉), the supposed third sister of the Chen siblings who was sent away and raised separately. Chang agreed to make a cameo appearance at the invitation of Vivian Hsu without even reading the script and flew to Taiwan from China to participate in the shoot for one day.[3]

Awards and nominations

edit
Year Awards ceremony Category Nominee Result Ref
2020 57th Golden Horse Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Maya Huang, Joseph Hsu Nominated [4]
Best New Director Joseph Hsu Nominated
Best Leading Actress Chen Shu-fang Won
Best Supporting Actress Hsieh Ying-xuan Nominated
Best Original Film Score Blaire Ko Nominated
Best Original Film Song Little Big Women Nominated
2021 15th Asian Film Awards Best Actress Chen Shu-fang Nominated [5][6]
Best Supporting Actress Hsieh Ying-xuan Nominated

References

edit
  1. ^ "Little Big Women: emotional Taiwanese family drama on Netflix". South China Morning Post. 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
  2. ^ Winkelman, Natalia (2021-02-05). "'Little Big Women' Review: Heartbreak is a Family Affair". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-07.
  3. ^ Lee, Eva (6 November 2020). "《孤味》人物介紹+劇情解析!陳淑芳以台灣母親的堅忍個性,教會我們「放下」的人生課題". Cosmopolitan (in Chinese). Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  4. ^ "台北金馬影展 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival". www.goldenhorse.org.tw. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  5. ^ "The 15th Asian Film Awards Nominations Announced". Asian Film Awards Academy. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  6. ^ Souw, Rebecca; Frater, Patrick (8 October 2021). "'Wife of a Spy' Wins Top Prize at Asian Film Awards". Variety. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
edit