MY NOTEBOOK: SECRET (TAIWANESE MOVIE)

SECRET

This is the first Taiwanese movie that I saw and I was hooked. At first, I was just amazed on how the main actor plays the piano. But then, I realize that the movie itself hypnotize me to eagerly finish it up. The twist in the end is pretty awesome. Watch it to understand what I mean.

PLOT

Ye Xianglun, a music student majoring in piano, transfers to Tamkang (Danjiang) Secondary School. It is a school famous for musically talented students, especially for those who play piano. On the first day of school, as he wanders through the piano building, he hears a mysterious melody being played that leads him to Lu Xiaoyu, another piano major. When he asks her about the song she was playing, she tells him that it is a secret that cannot be told. The two develop a relationship that is clouded in mystery. When Xianglun tells Xiaoyu of the demolition of the piano building on graduation day, she teaches him the song that he heard on the first day of school.

However, when a mis-passed note leads to Xianglun’s accidental kissing of another girl, Xiaoyu disappears for five months, only to return on graduation day and mysteriously disappear again. Xianglun asks around and discovers that Xiaoyu was actually a student from the class of 1979, who graduated 20 years ago. Xiaoyu time traveled to the present via a piece called “Secret” that she played on an old piano in the piano building. She had fallen in love with Xianglun, but the only barrier is that, in the present, the first person she sees on each trip is the only person that can see her.

When Xiaoyu was misled that Xianglun liked another girl, she returned to her time, 1979 for five months. During her absence, her story spread and everyone believed that she was crazy. Remembering that the piano room would be destroyed on graduation day of 1999, she tried time traveling to see Xianglun one last time, but was mislead once again that he liked another girl. Xiaoyu retreats back to her own time and died from an asthma attack, trying to communicate with Xianglun via writing on a desk with white out.

After finally learning of Xiaoyu’s story, Xianglun realizes that the piece that she taught him was “Secret”, which had the power to take the pianist forward or backward in time depending on the tempo at which it is played. He rushes off to the piano room, which is ready to be torn down. As the demolition begins, Xianglun begins “Secret” from memory, recalling something Xiaoyu told him while teaching him the piece: “I always play it that fast when I go back”. The last scene is when the 1979 Tamkang (Danjiang) Secondary School graduation picture is taken, in which Xianglun and Xiaoyu are present.

CAST

* 周杰倫 (周杰伦) Jay Chou (Zhou Jielun) as 葉湘倫/叶湘伦 (Ye Xianglun Jay): Music student majoring in piano and lives with his father.

* 桂綸鎂 (桂纶镁) Kwai Lun-mei (Gui Lunmei) as 路小雨 (Lu Xiaoyu Rain): Music student who lives with her mother.

* 黄秋生 (黄秋生) Anthony Wong (Huang Qiusheng or Wong Chau-sang) as 小倫爸爸 (Xianglun’s father): The discipline teacher of Xianglun’s school and his father.

* 曾愷玹 (曾恺玹) Alice Tzeng (Zeng Kaixuan) as 晴依 (Qing Yi Sky): The girl Ye Xianglun met when he joined Dangjian. She always admired Ye Xianglun.

* 宋健彰 Devon Song (Song Jianzhang) as 阿宝/阿寶 (Abao Bob): Not a well-behaved student. Organised a dance party where he performs. Member of a rugby team.

* 黃俊郎 (黄俊郎) Huang Junlang as 阿郎 (Alang Lance): Abao’s good friend, captain of the rugby team.

* 詹宇豪 Zhan Yuhao as 雨豪 (Yu Hao Howe): “Prince of the piano”, a talented piano player, had a “piano battle” with Ye Xianglun.

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