Cape No. 7

Cape No. 7 is a 2008 Taiwanese romantic musical drama film written and directed by Wei Te-sheng, his first full-length motion picture. The film is in Taiwanese and Mandarin with significant lines in Japanese. Before its commercial release, the film had its world premiere on 20 June 2008 at the 2008 Taipei Film Festival as the opening film. The film later won 3 awards at the festival. Prior to this film, the two leading actors Van Fan and Chie Tanaka only had minor acting experience while some of the supporting roles were filled by non-actors. Even without a strong promotional campaign, the film became hugely popular in Taiwan that on 1 November 2008 it became the second highest-grossing film in the country's cinematic history, behind James Cameron's Titanic. The film has grossed over US$13,804,531 since its release. It is also currently the highest grossing Taiwanese domestic film. The film has won 15 awards to date, including 6 at the 2008 Golden Horse Awards. It was also Taiwan's entry to compete in the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, although it did not secure a nomination. Plot In the 1940s near the end of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, an unnamed teacher (Atari) dispatched to the southernmost town of Hengchun falls in love with a local girl with the Japanese name Kojima Tomoko (Liang). After the Surrender of Japan, the teacher is forced to return home as Taiwan was placed under the administrative control of the Republic of China. On his trip home, he pens seven love letters to express his regret for leaving Kojima Tomoko, who originally planned to elope with him to Japan.