Taiwanese film of the year A Leg features Golden Horse Award winner Gwei Lun-mei and Tony Yang as a couple-on-screen; together, they bring us a love story composed of humour, tears and a journey in search of a leg.  

 

In the film, Tony Yang and Gwei Lun-mei meet because of the waltz, a dance which the two actors had trained strenuously for. For the sake of authenticity, the film crew went to the international dance competition and had the two leads dance in front of the professionals. At this, Yang said, “I was shaking head to toe, shaking through every line, and my hands were like ice. It was certainly my single most nervous event since I joined the show business, surpassing even all of the huge film award festivals.”

 

A Leg / Applause Movie Taiwan 

 

A Leg / Applause Movie Taiwan 

 

Gwei Lun-mei agreed, “We had two tries. No more. Tony and I were both praying like hell that we wouldn’t make any mistakes, but we had no idea how long we could hold.” The director Chang Yao-sheng revealed that as soon as Yang got on stage, he brought his skills into a full 200% play; his dance in the actual shooting just so happened to be one of the best dances he delivered after his extensive training. “When the applause burst,” Chang said, “they instantly became professional dancers! It was a truly magical thing.” 

 

In a behind the scenes video, Yang revealed that his character Zheng Zi-han is a romantic who makes stumbles every step of his way in real life, leaving piles of messes for his wife to clean up. Gwei complemented Yang, saying that he is a very intelligent actor. “He gets my vibe. We trust each other, so our performance comes very naturally.” 

 

▼Behind the Scenes video of A Leg 

 

 

Yang expressed, after playing his character, that “It’s not that woman have stronger shoulders for burdens. It’s more about the fact that girls see things as it is and face reality with grit, whereas men are often foolish as they only find their courage after they are willing to confront themselves.” He said that the story reminds him of his parents. His father was also a romantic while his mom was braver in terms of facing reality and knowing when to stop. “Like mei’s character, it’s not that women of her kind have a stronger shoulder. They, too, need love and protection.” His words show just how much of a sweet, considerate man he is. 

 

A Leg is Chang Yao-sheng’s first feature film. The story follows Qian Yu-ying, who aims to retrieve her dead husband Zheng Zi-han’s amputated leg after he dies from the surgery. Her plan, however, is hindered by the hospital as they heckle and ignore her request. A scandalous plan of “leg heist”, hence begins… During this dark-humorous search for a leg, we see the past of Qian and Zheng, including how they met and how fell in love and debt for each other. 

 

A leg was released in cinemas on December 24, 2020.