LET’S CHEAT TOGETHER

DIRECTOR

LIEN Yi-Chi

CAST

CHANG Shao-Huai, KO Chia Yen, CHEN Chiao-En, Ming Dow

FESTIVAL & AWARD

Taipei Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival – Closing Film

SYNOPSIS

Sleuth Cheng, the host of the variety show, Love Is Magic, is specialised in advising the audiences on relationship problems. One early morning, he is found buried inside a tetrapod on the beach while the secretly filmed clip of Cheng passionately kissing the mayor’s wife goes viral on the Internet with millions of views. It not only drops a bomb in the Taiwanese politics but has a profound impact on the upcoming mayoral election.

The hospital is besieged by journalists. Cheng, whose body is covered with injuries, and his girlfriend, who works as his agent, confess that they are entrusted with a secret mission by the Taipei Mayor. It turns out that Cheng is asked to sort out the mayoress’s affairs and to help the mayor control the situation before the election. In an exclusive membership-only club where privacy is absolutely protected, Cheng observes the series of affairs the mayoress has had and comes to realise that these relationships are far more complicated than they appear. In fact, the mayoress suffers greatly from the insolvable problems in her marriage. During the process, Cheng gradually warms towards the mysterious mayoress and slowly walks into a love trap full of lies and calculation.

Cheng’s reputation is in ruins. Under the gaze of the bloodthirsty media, how could Cheng escape from this farcical political storm? Moreover, what unspeakable secrets that would shake the whole country does the mayoress hold?

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Born in 1977, Lien Yi-Chi studied agricultural mechanical engineering at first, but when he saw BREAKING THE WAVES by Lars von Trier and AH CHUNG by Chang Tso-chi, he decided to switch to film and eventually went to the Department of Drama at the Chinese Culture University.

After Lien graduated from university, he had held various jobs in film and television, which gained him a wide range of experiences in the industry. Having worked as researcher, scriptwriter and producer, Lien served as location manager on SILK and assistant director on CAPE NO. 7. In 2011, he made his directorial feature debut, MAKE UP. The issues tackled in the film, including life, death and homosexuality as well as its strong visual style created a new dimension for Taiwanese cinema and broadened its subject matters and narratives. MAKE UP was selected as the opening film of the 2011 Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival and invited to the Visual Express at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival and the Winds of Asia at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

Lien’s second feature film, SWEET ALIBIS, was theatrically released in 2014. As a combination of black comedy and thriller, it is a rare success in Taiwanese cinema. Through its more mature narrative and even more refined production quality, SWEET ALIBIS managed to open up Hong Kong and China markets for Taiwanese comedy. It not only avoided “cultural discount” but also performed well at the box-office.

In 2014, Lien directed his first television drama, MR RIGHT WANTED. Its exceptionally high quality and the daring narrative close to American TV series overthrew the standard production procedure and scale in Taiwanese television.  Furthermore, it raised the Taiwanese audiences’ viewing experience to a higher level.

Lien’s creative energy erupted in 2017 as he made three completely different films, including SECRET FRUIT (college romance), PEACE BREAKER (action-crime-thriller) and ALL BECAUSE OF LOVE  (coming-of-age story). The outstanding production quality Lien has demonstrated and the critical acclaim he has received rapidly increase his popularity in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, signifying the beginning of the golden age of his career.