The Great Buddha+

The Great Buddha+ is a 2017 Taiwanese dark comedy film written and directed by Huang Hsin-yao. It is Huang's feature film directorial debut. It won the top prize at the 19th Taipei Film Festival and received 10 nominations at the 54th Golden Horse Awards, winning Best Adapted Screenplay and Best New Director for Huang. It was released in theaters on October 13, 2017. It was selected as the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.[2]

The Great Buddha+
Theatrical release poster
Chinese	大佛普拉斯
Mandarin	Dà fó pǔ lā sī
Directed by	Huang Hsin-yao
Produced by	Yeh Ju-feng Chung Mong-hong
Screenplay by	Huang Hsin-yao
Based on	The Great Buddha by Huang Hsin-yao
Starring	Cres Chuang Bamboo Chen Leon Dai Na Dow
Narrated by	Huang Hsin-yao
Music by	Lin Sheng-xiang
Cinematography	Nagao Nakashima
Edited by	Lai Hsiu-hsiung
Production company	MandarinVision Cream Production
Distributed by	Applause Entertainment Cheng Cheng Films
Release date	June 29, 2017 (2017-06-29) (Taipei) October 13, 2017 (2017-10-13) (Taiwan)
Running time	104 minutes
Country	Taiwan
Language	Taiwanese Hokkien Mandarin English
Box office	NT$28.4 million (Taiwan)[1]

Premise

The night security guard at a Buddha statue factory along with his friend, a recyclables collector, become entangled in a web of dark secrets after stumbling upon videos that document the promiscuous meetings of the factory's wealthy owner.

Cast

Lin Chia-lung and the film cast

• Cres Chuang as Pickle
• Bamboo Chen as Belly Button
• Leon Dai as Kevin
• Na Dow as Peanut
• Chang Shao-huai as Sakya
• Ting Kuo-lin as Yeh Feng-ju
• JC Lei as Gucci
• Chen Yi-wen as Kao
• Vincent Liang as Police chief
• Yu An-shun as Police officer
• Jutoupi as Singer
• Lee Yung-feng as Deputy speaker
• Lin Mei-hsiu as Senior
• Cheng Yu-tong (Evelyn Cheng) as Kao's secretary
• Hsien Tuo (as Tuo-Shen Chen) as Pickle's Uncle

Production

The film is an extension of director Huang Hsin-yao's 2014 Golden Horse Award-nominated short, The Great Buddha (大佛).[3] According to Huang, the inclusion of "+" in the feature's title is a reference to the Apple smartphone iPhone 6 Plus, which was released around the time when he began expanding his short to a feature.[4] In an interview, Huang also clarified that The Great Buddha+ was not shot on iPhone.[5]

Awards and nominations

Award	Category	Recipients	Result	Ref.
54th Golden Horse Awards	Best Feature Film	The Great Buddha+	Nominated	[6]
	Best Supporting Actor	Leon Dai	Nominated
	Best New Director	Huang Hsin-yao	Won
	Best Adapted Screenplay	Huang Hsin-yao	Won
	Best Cinematography	Nagao Nakashima	Won
	Best Art Direction	Chao Shih-hao	Nominated
	Best Original Film Score	Lin Sheng-xiang	Won
	Best Original Film Song	"To Have, or Not to Have" Composer：Lin Sheng-xiang Lyrics: Ong Chiau-hoa Performer: Lin Sheng-xiang	Won
	Best Film Editing	Lai Hsiu-hsiung	Nominated
	Best Sound Effects	Tu Duu-chih and Wu Shu-yao	Nominated
19th Taipei Film Awards	Grand Prize	The Great Buddha+	Won	[7]
	Best Narrative Feature	The Great Buddha+	Won
	Outstanding Artistic Contribution in Editing	Lai Hsiu-hsiung	Won
	Outstanding Artistic Contribution in Music	Lin Sheng-xiang	Won
	Outstanding Artistic Contribution in Art Direction	Chao Shih-hao	Won
2017 Toronto International Film Festival	NETPAC Award	The Great Buddha+	Won	[8][9]
37th Hong Kong Film Awards	Best Film from Mainland and Taiwan	The Great Buddha+	Won	[10]

See also

• List of submissions to the 91st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Taiwanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

References

1. "TFI-國家電影中心 Taiwan Film Institute - 電影票房資訊-每週票房公告". www.tfi.org.tw. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
2. Patrick, Frater (14 September 2018). "Oscars: Taiwan Sends 'Great Buddha+' Into Foreign-Language Contention". Variety. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
3. 聯合新聞網. "「大佛普拉斯」黑白拍攝背後真相 竟是這個原因... - 電影 - 噓！星聞".
4. Lee, Maggie (29 September 2017). "Film Review: 'The Great Buddha+'".
5. "《大佛普拉斯》紅到國外　卻被外媒誤會這件事".
6. "台北金馬影展 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival". www.goldenhorse.org.tw.
7. "2017 Taipei Film Festival". eng.taipeiff.taipei. Archived from the original on 2017-03-16.
8. "Announcing the TIFF '17 Award Winners". 17 September 2017.
9. "'Three Billboards' Takes Home the Top TIFF Audience Prize". ScreenCrush.
10. "Hong Kong Film Awards nominations 2018: Ann Hui's Our Time Will Come leads race with 11 nods". South China Morning Post. February 6, 2018.

External links

• The Great Buddha+ on IMDb
• The Great Buddha+ at Douban (in Chinese)