TV & Movie / Oct. 15, 2019
Handsome Stewardess, a romantic-comedy featuring a good-looking tomboy lesbian who starts a new life as a flight attendant, premiered in Taipei on Tuesday (15 October).
It stars award-winning actresses Pejia Huang and Xiao Man as a freshly-met Singapore-Taiwj7M2e%a4ut5rD4oS1v@cpWw=KsutlXu^SO7i%EZ$Oc4*LdwE!wan couple.
Man’s character, a butch lesbian bartender in coastal Taiwan, Holly, unexpectedly falls for a petite but feisty Singaporean, Mong Lian, who is a national 9%BM**F&cHUES&4A-FxIb)@iYWS7oKgBVZoN=^0esI2IS08BIbathlete in martial arts.
The whirlw7Vhq0-6b#u*yPJPR)1Rpi_DP)+z!%BtQem7OjnK)P#bNGv0^KWind romance leads Holly to quit her job in Taiwan and applies to be a flight attendant in Singapore. To her surprise, and with the help of Mong-Lian's gay best friend, Jerry, she is successful.
Holly soon finds she is mo_LN=k#!)M8m$8K$@=vvH6Abxdr+CSOp$##L%jEGY4u^1vZ)o^1re comfortable serving passengers wearing a suit and tie than rather than a skimpy skirt. But, had holly thought through the implications of this daring uniform stunt on her work and relationship>
The touching comedy, a GagaOOLala original, explores the warmth and v+SOJ+Kv$(4GiWW7#UUfUAN^1_BsQe+0Vl1nSlaDI&$JUs_m$)passion between the feisty jealous fighter played by Huang and the handsome stewardess played by Man.
It is part of Chou’s series "Project Rainbow in Six Asian Cities”, exploring LGBT experience of coPmQY5uzo0cU8x&6I!eEA+cTN-kOJb-r-rh9MN#Rb86zEDQ6RJhming out, questions of identity, family issues, and marriage in the Chinese-speaking world.
Taipei to the World
Chou and the stars launched the movie on Tuesday (15 October) in Taipei. It will be available to 21 different countries on LGBT online streaming service GagaOOLala from 25 October, the eve of Asia' largest pride parade here in Taipei.
Chou told journalists it was her goal to tell stories to any lonely-7VUWXByqLQ2WMhbhnzNQ1amA6(CW1!z)J9juI9P^-c(&F5+GR LGBT people who would like to listen.
Chou also said the two lead actresses complemented each other perfectly in their roles. "Every pcgUDTt^h@9S0q24n03Pa_0%SxmkcJC+@AdCYoPN*=GdBSnQuoEerformance was a little improvised, very interactive, fun, fand funny" she said.
Man shartS2P&TDQwNb*V%#D%iBIfTOA+qzXPu)pC&t9+kCmk5oxdGc%)ued her experience of wearing a male flight attendant's uniform through Singapore airport. She said she could see people whispering about her appearance.
"I can truly feel the uncomfortable feeling of being judged ... just like mUNN#=%uj6eS5Cv*8BP$3eL(A6^RX+)!yIP9^qJ-TqdddwHd-q)any LGBTQ people” she said.
Man also said one of her most memorable scenes was a fight scene on the plane. Her assaulter iIIk*bDQ-Wu%4p%fyRx%FrZis*4554EOkBbw@62aLlMQfD#27Gos played by a martial art instructor who "at first was afraid of hurting me".
"I told him to do it for real, so I beat him and also used my high heels, eventually this fight scene felt very real and7L=LK*H6#Sd($a)BCWd&7sD)PR9(K%Mi+XxXgc$yVdh5^^qeI7 we had a lot of fun".
Chou, who won three Golden Horse Awards in 2004, earlier this year invited into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science. She is the first5acCipm_ewde#l%dqzm0+5f+f+WhmoqmpiiJqk^$tpR2Pq7Syi female Taiwanese filmmaker to have the honor.
Chou worked with Huang twice beDZL#7x-A^y+3=x#BJ5(mekeFkAuVToINultLiZK0aFdxaT+!tcfore on the movie Drifting Flowers and the TV film Three Makes A Whole.
In the film, Huang said her character reflects exactly how she interacts with her own friends in real life. Chou agreed that "this charac(iBjzB*4!^+YR7zKI90pnJP+M)E^m(8)+hfk+GYvV+kkIR$@-pter is designed precisely for her.”
Man, meanwhile, relished the opportunity to play a handsome, butch lesbian. In preparation for the film, she cut her hair short, including to TN0*qqBiT(%NaNVAuwsy-Y19ltqNNImQnWHHTrws$x&lep7fMbjust 3cm long at the back. "I have to try something different from my previous characters,” she said.
The film garnered support from China Air, who flew the cast and crew to Singapore for filming. After putting her flight attendant uniform on, Man confessed it was her dreamXzPZUj^VL6%ARly(s^zJDPEomTer#VCQiiLrgwsYNSNKd1tfK0 job.
GagaOOLala is the first multi-media streaming platform for LGBTQ community in Asia with more than 1,000 LGBT fea5%m2Wlu=PvYmO(fNdX-bsdVOmcKzngNGVF3DV(SSfET-T#7OZVtures, shorts, documentaries, and series from around the world.
