Godspeed (Mong-Hong Chung, 2016): Taiwan

Reviewed by Stephen Clark. Viewed in Metropolitan Fiesta 5 Theatre during the Santa Barbara Film Festival 2017.

Mong-Hong Chong’s Godspeed is an award winning motion picture highlighting the journey of Na-Dow and a taxi driver who accompanies him through a journey through Taiwan and the underground heroin market of the region. The protagonist Na-Now makes his chips running packs of heroin across Taiwan in exchange for cash. Na Dow begins his journey with a very persistent taxi driver and the two embark on an action packed road trip to the south of Taiwan, and the two find themselves in unexplainable situations. Mong-Hong exhibits the alluring countryside with carefully calculated cinematography and delicately creates patterns with beautiful shots, and camera angles. The landscape of the city of Taipei is captured in a way that the mise-en-scene, the camera framing, and the editing all work in harmony to create a scenes that are truly eloquent in terms of cinematography and are instantly engraved in the memory of the viewers.

The drug game however, has it’s ups and downs as the gang are targeted for a heist. One of the suppliers is shot in cold blood by one of his accomplices taking the cash and the dope, and both Na Dow and Xu the taxi driver are held hostage in the trunk; truly a dog eat dog world in the Taiwanese black market. The two are at a constant struggle to find home and peace in the desolate countryside.

I saw Godspeed at Fiesta 5 Theatre during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2017. The cast consists of Michael Hui, Na-Dow Lin, Leon Dai, Chung-Hua Tou, Matt Chung-Tien Wu, Vincent Liang, Yi-Wen Chen, and Vithaya Pansringarm; a truly remarkable cast. Godspeed was directed, written, and the cinematography all done by Mong-Hong Chung. The overall Film experience from the content of the motion picture, to the theatre, to the energy lingering around from the film festival was truly unforgettable. Mong-Hong Chung’s Godspeed displays a witty and comical plot line while keeping the viewer anticipating the events in the future. I would highly recommend Godspeed to anyone.