Review by Derek Elley (Film Business Asia)

Pretty much the only thing off-kilter about When a Wolf Falls In Love With a Sheep 南方小羊牧場 is the cumbersome English title, which also makes it sound like a children's cartoon or a sappy melodrama. Apart from that, this second feature by Taiwanese writer-director HOU Chi-jan 侯季然 is a beautifully paced rom-com wrapped inside a neighbourhood ensemble movie that doesn't put a foot wrong. A rom-com where not a single kiss is exchanged, where the two protagonists seem to spend their time thinking about everything but the other person, and where the story is only just starting as the film ends, Wolf represents a huge leap in writing and structure from his feature debut, the abstruse, time-bending romance One Day 有一天 (2009). More than that, it fulfils the promise of his segment in Juliets 茱麗葉 (2010), a perfect demonstration of the short-story form that also showed a natural feel for Taipei's backstreets.

Clearly inspired by his own memories of Nanyang Street — an area just south of the city's main train station that's known for its cram schools — the movie starts off with protagonist Tung (likably played by Kai KO 柯震東, director Giddens 九把刀' alter ego in hit You Are the Apple of My Eye 那些年，我們一起追的女孩。 (2011)), being peremptorily dumped by his dream girl (Nikki HSIEH 謝欣穎, from One Day, in a cameo) with a note stuck to his forehead. After falling to pieces, and searching for her among Nanyang's cram schools, Tung ends up working in a copy shop there and stumbles across the school where she once was. Meanwhile, he's met one of its employees, Hsiao Yang ("little sheep"), a wannabe illustrator biding her time there and drawing small cartoons of the woolly animal on exam papers.

The quiet Hsiao Yang is slightly tomboyish, quite independent minded, and definitely a bit spacey. As she and Tung become pals, sharing their memories of being dumped, they enter into a relationship that neither of them realises is happening: part of the movie's magic is that, though the audience is more aware of what's taking place than the protagonists are, it always leaves its development unsure. In a heart-stopping finale, where time itself bends out of shape, Hou deliberately toys with the viewer's expectations.

As played by CHIEN Man-shu 簡嫚書, who had a tiny part in Hou's episode of the portmanteau 10+10 十加十 (2011) as a young singer in the '50s, Hsiao Yang inhabits a dreamy plane of her own, counting down the 100 days she's promised herself to spend in her menial job before moving on, and only showing the tiniest clues that she's interested in Tung. The latter, still obsessed by being dumped, only picks up these clues tangentially, until one day... click.

With no regular plot, the film is one in which tone is all-important — a difficult balancing act for any director, not least in the difficult genre of the rom-com. The screen chemistry between Chien and Ko is tangible without being over-obvious: two lost souls spending time together. But Hou maintains the tempo by making Hsiao Yang and Tung's story part of a larger neighbourhood ensemble: the school's colourful, bowtie-wearing boss (Dennis NIEH 聶雲), a priest-cum-noodle stand owner (beautifully played by LIN Ching-tai 林慶台, the aboriginal actor who debuted as the lead in Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale 賽德克?巴萊 (2011)), Tung's wacky boss (character veteran TSAI Chen-nan 蔡振南), a sticky-rice seller (WU Pi-lien 吳碧蓮) who's lost her dog, and Hsiao Yang's entrepreneurial, kooky workmate Pao-pao (KUO Shu-yau 郭書瑤). Neighbourhood films are a staple of Taiwan cinema but Hou neither overplays the comic potential nor makes the characters and the whole film seem too local (unlike, say, the recent Together 甜?祕密).

On a technical side, the film benefits from a top-drawer score by Owen WANG 王希文 (Jump Ashin! 翻滾吧！阿信 (2011), The Soul of Bread 愛的麵包魂) that's alert to nuances of mood; occasional use of tricks like speeded-up motion; and discreet visual effects for Hsiao Yang's dreams. Wolf could have been just cloyingly cute; instead, it's cute, funny and, in its final minutes, very moving. Much of that is due to the precision script by Hou and his collaborators (including regular Kelly YANG 楊元鈴), which satisfyingly clicks together in the final third, bringing together elements that only seemed like passing decoration (e.g. paper planes) and still springing lovely surprises (as with Fried Rice Man's backstory).

Wolf isn't a "big" film, with grandiose statements or major events. But it's beautifully crafted, touches both the funny bone and the heart, and pulls off that most difficult trick of all — turning the small things of life into engaging entertainment. For that alone, it deserves an extra point.

The Chinese title simply means South Sheep Farm, Hsiao Yang's nickname for the cram school. Viewers are also advised to stick around until the end titles have finished, for a lovely capper between actors Tsai and Lin.

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这篇剧评可能有剧透 这是一部讲水果故事的可爱小片儿，共六集。旁白文案还不错~有《舌尖》风格~~为了避免自己看过就忘，草草罗列一下大纲笔记吧。 第一集《变身》：讲各种水果经过加工后的形象。台湾的爱玉变身爱玉冰，越南的可可幻化为巧克力，黄土高原的柿子风干制成柿饼，大兴安岭的蓝莓熬制成...  (展开)

其实这剧看到现在，我是关注两位主演比较多，觉得算是一部成长剧吧。 男女主遇见了对方，然后为了对方，互相给予情谊，一起成长的故事。 小凤从一开始因为自身遭遇的事情自暴自弃，为了钱什么都能做，带着一点对心目中该是“人渣”的人类南信的好奇靠近三号，到被三号一次次感...  (展开)

阿基曾说自己是——“世界上最好的电影制作人，但我拍的是最差的电影”。 《希望的另一面》，又是一部极简主义且面无表情的电影，用喜剧外壳装着一个难民悲情故事。 故事是关于穷困潦倒的人——那种跌到谷底的人。他们如此的受压迫，以至于他们自己都不知道。随后发生的事情，...  (展开)

成老公接待处啦...结婚还结的酸溜溜啦.2桌酒席吧?大厨说一块做啦,这样快啦,结果呢,这2桌就这么吵起来了啦,上海新娘还死要面子啦.....这婚纱穿起来更加别扭和酸溜溜啦,关于这个,还是人家合适的一人一份合适啦,还要等一大堆亲戚,:我家小孩明天还要上课呢,人家明天还要买菜做饭呢,全冒出来了.姑妈还要求多多啦,更加别扭啦.少了攀岩啦,成了起怪的姑妈接待处啦,好了啦,去玩的时候,遇到自己姑妈机会很少啦,到是攀岩被动啦,你们年轻人去啦,还不好意思啦.

时光，总是在夏天过得格外长，
时间，总是在孤独的时候更能找回自己

那一年，本该上大专的我却不想去了，在社会上也没找啥长时间的工作，每天也就是散散步，转转公园，骑个自行车，那些父母每天给的买点便宜货，抽血2块8的红山茶，并不觉得有啥过得不好，
那时候真是有时间啊，把电影下载了认真的看，什么电影都看，看过之后真觉得，融入一个电影，不打断的看完是很幸福的事，也许当时节奏慢，也许当时没有养家的负担，每天挺开心，
我喜欢上了读书，只读纯历史小说，比如，苏童，比如《青狐》当时要是逛2手书地摊。看到这本长安乱，我一看字体和纸质就知道，是正版旧书。立即就买了。
回到家，抚摸牛皮纸的质感竟感到一丝欣喜，
大大的字体我有些不解但吸引我的内容，让我读的一气呵成，真痛快。
当然最后的最后，悲剧收场，没有了一开始的欢乐，热闹，。只剩下，孤单，成长，，让人哽咽。
成长？真的让我们越来越远吗？
就如同那年夏天我等妈妈买肉回家炒菜，终于等到时，确实妈妈说，我没买肉。那这钱找了个算命的，说你24结婚，，我们都哈哈的乐了，，，这两个字太遥远了，我结婚太远了哈哈哈哈哈哈，当然那天我们没有吃肉，

犹如昨天的场景，

但是今年我27，孩子2岁。我不知道现在还能不能有多少时间安静的看一本书，看一部电影，，现在，上班。看孩子，应酬，给孩子买这买那，但是我觉得，孤独的时候就尽力享受吧，因为，孤独才是最放松的自己

好的评价是：我们错怪了陈凯歌和无极,那不是中国最烂的大片。
                整个片子，还真是周董比较靠谱，靠谱的原因是因为戏份比较少。虽然一副孙悟空扮相，还拿着金箍棒。但这些都不能怪他。
坏的评价是：满屏幕上面充盈的都是酥胸，从宫女到王后，挺胸抬头。向好莱坞昭示：中国女性也有好身材。
                见面就打，所有的人都会武功，金光闪闪，金碧辉煌，向全世界昭示：我们中国人富裕了~遍地全是黄金！
                没事就掉眼泪，并且感情来得相当的突兀。最后的大决战，蚂蚁军团大胜蜜蜂军团。密密麻麻，乌秧乌秧的。
                后《英雄》对白，周杰伦一挥刀，士兵们就齐刷刷地喊一声“攻！”，走一会队停了下来齐刷刷地喊一声“止”。还记得《英雄》喊的“大风”和“大王，杀不杀，杀不杀”。想到了这些，再看接下来的画面就顺理成章了：周润发的士兵用铁铸的城墙一样的装备挤死周杰伦的手下的时候，很整齐地喊了一声“迫！”，周杰伦从空中掉下来的时候，他的手下们把他接住的时候同样整齐地喊了一声“承！”，周润发露面的时候，跪下来的士兵一起喊“参！”，起身的时候又一起喊“兴！”。当演员们集体喊“控！”的时候，影院里有两个男同志忍不住不约而同地嘀咕了一声“操！”，于是观众笑做一团。——上段来自老罗
                 看完最后围宫那场戏，我脑子里第一个想到的是我们的2008开幕式，张大导演是不是在为那时候做准备？真希望看到点儿清新的，脱俗的，有创意的，不是现在这样，砸钱的，闹哄哄的，大红大绿大黄的。现在丢丢人也就算了，都是自己家人，我打心眼里还是支持国产电影的，以后有大烂片我没准脑袋发热还是去看的。但奥运会，求求您了，别在世界人民面前这样子了。
              呜呼哀哉，或许其实也许大概并没有那么差，但毕竟看英雄的时候还新鲜，十面埋伏有小金，夜宴我没去电影院。所以对这部地反映及其的强烈。
王小波说，这世界上没有比做价值判断更轻松的事情了。
没错，好或者坏，我喜欢，我不喜欢，脱口而出这是最简单的事儿，不用负一点责任，不用出一点努力。
但我是消费者，我不是买了张盗版碟，擦擦嘴上油惺，上网开始愤青一般开骂：国产电影不行啊，国产电影完蛋了~~
姐姐我在电影院看了无极、如果爱、十面埋伏、英雄……白花花的钞票就这样流进了片商的口袋，
难道我没有权利说说么？我有。我怎么没有？
群众都是可爱的，群众都是愚蠢的，群众都是揭竿而起、对被愚弄后知后觉的……
然而当群众如我，在被愚之后，实在无法保持客观冷静，因为花的是血汗钱，没过着眼瘾，还不让咱过过嘴瘾了？
 
我就是一个无产阶级小俗人，看不了高深莫测的电影，平时观影只求会心一笑和感动一哭。
像《独自等待》夏雨脱衣服那段，自己对这电脑笑了好长时间，
像《我们俩》看到老奶奶孤单的样子也不禁流眼泪。
为什么中国的大片，总有着强烈的小农意识？就是那种感觉咱可算有钱了，可算大投资了，一定全塞在屏幕里，惟恐别人看不到的样子。
所以把金子穿在身上，带在头上，贴在墙上，踩在脚下。
如果一个爆发户这样做且走在大街上，人们一定笑死了，但放在屏幕上，就有人敢把这个叫大制作大艺术了。
真让我迷惑。