Film review: When a Wolf Falls in Love with a Sheep

Screenwriter-director Hou Chi-jan's bubbly crowd-pleaser of a romantic comedy dramatically begins with Ying (Nikki Hsieh Hsin-ying) suddenly disappearing from the flat she shares with her boyfriend Tung (Kai Ko Chen-tung, the star of You Are the Apple of My Eye), leaving him in a state of shock.

Clenching his girlfriend's parting note that says she's off to "cram school", Tung heads to Nanyang Street - a neighbourhood in Taipei full of such schools - hoping to locate her. Unable to find Ying after days of fruitless searching, Tung settles into a mundane work routine that involves photocopying and delivering examination papers.

Amid the stacks of paper, Tung chances upon cute cartoon drawings of sheep penned by Yang (Chien Man-shu), a teaching assistant and aspiring illustrator who is also waiting to be reunited with a lover. Tung sketches a wolf next to the sheep, triggering a sequence of flirtatious exchanges about love and dreams.

When a Wolf Falls in Love with a Sheep recalls Arvin Chen Chun-lin's Au Revoir Taipei in its local flavour and small neighbourhood settings, but it shines brighter in how it uses elements such as dynamic camera movements, quirky framing and shallow depth of field to transform a generally unpleasant locale into an endearing shelter for wounded souls.