Monga is named for Mengjia, an old district of Taipei which has long been the domain of the local gangsters. Mosquito, the teenage son of a single mother, transfers to a high school in Mengjia but is bullied on the first day, until the Prince Gang intervenes and saves him. Growing up with no father ...(Read more)
Monga is named for Mengjia, an old district of Taipei which has long been the domain of the local gangsters. Mosquito, the teenage son of a single mother, transfers to a high school in Mengjia but is bullied on the first day, until the Prince Gang intervenes and saves him. Growing up with no father and no friends, Mosquito joins the gang for brotherhood and friendship. He learns the way of the streets from the gang and its founder, Boss Geta. He asks the young kids to fight for brotherhood rather than benefit, and to fight with fists and never with guns. However, a mainlander gang holds just the opposite values and plots to take over Mengjia. These invaders put the traditional values of Mengjia to the test, along with the gangsters’ friendship and loyalty.
Director Doze Niu was a main Taiwan New Wave actor in the 1980s, which may explain why Monga bears three of the movement’s themes: the motif of coming-of-age and initiation, the street life of young gangsters, and the political issue of Taiwanese identity. The opposition between Geta’s Taiwanese/islander gang and Gray Wolf’s Chinese/mainlander group hints at the ethnic tensions of the KMT taking over Taiwan, and the domination of pistols over fists and modern capitalism over pre-modern values. After Geta is assassinated, however, the successor is neither his son Dragon (a Taiwanese-American) nor the charismatic Monk (a homosexual), but Mosquito, whose father is in fact a mainlander but who identifies with the Japanese “sakura spirit” and with Geta, the local father figure for Mengjia and, by extension, Taiwan.
DVD source:Taiwan Cinema Toolkit, Ministry of Culture, R.O.C.
Chinese title: | 艋舺 |
Year: | 2010 |
Director: | Doze NIU Chen-Zer |
Duration: | 141min |
Length: | Feature |
Category: | Fiction |
Genre: | Action |
Theme: | Cultural Conflict、Youth、The City |
Color: | Color |
Format: | DVD |
Sound: | Dolby |
Language: | Mandarin, Taiwanese |
Subtitle: | Chinese, English |
Producer: | LEE Lieh, Doze NIU Chen-Zer |
Actors: | Ethan JUAN, Mark CHAO, MA Ju-Lung , Rhydian VAUGHAN, KO Chia-Yen |
Screenplay: | TSENG Li-Ting, Doze NIU Chen-Zer |
Camera: |
Jake POLLOCK |
Editor: | Doze NIU Chen-Zer, TSENG Li-Ting, LIN Yung-Yi |
Music: | Sandee CHAN |
Excluded for public screenings: | Licensed to all regions except: Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Japan, South Korea, Italy |
Royalty period: | 2014-2020 |
Licensing contact: | This license of non-profit screenings has expired in 2020. Regarding conditions for screening, please contact: |
Festival list: | 2010 Berlin International Film Festival, Panorama 2010 Taipei Film Festival, Best Art Direction Award 2010 Hawaii International Film Festival, NETPAC Award 2010 Golden Horse Awards, Best Leading Actor, Best Sound Mixing Awards 2011 Asian Film Awards, Best New Artist Award |