BTS: Better Than Sex (2002)
July 9th, 2011 by chocko
BTS: Better Than Sex, the 2002 hit from Taiwan got its U.S. debut screening this week at the 10th New York Asian Film Festival with director, Su Chao-Pin in attendance. The movie is a fast paced teen-sex comedy with a butt-load of characters. The main character in the movie is a porn-addicted teenager named Lin who just can’t seem to figure out his role in life. Lin, blessed with a gigantic kielbasa, masturbates his days away but his search for true love begins after his mentor and porn shop owner, Boss Cheng dies. Another character is Tam, a schoolgirl, who is madly in love with the clueless Lin. Tam turns into a punk rock badass when she feels rejected by her object of desire. The movie also feature 3 goofy, motorbike riding thugs who cream their collective jeans when they discover a magical sword which they use to terrorize the city with while running from the police. There’s also a Japanese camera crew led by Ken, a heart broken ex-Yakuza. Their attempt to document delinquent teens on the streets of Taipei add to the already humorous story.
The directing is inspired by Su Chao-Pin’s love of manga which is evident in the high energy pace of the film and overall look. There are also scenes that seem out of place. For instance, a Taiwanese rap group (featuring MC Hotdog) just appears on screen at one point, rapping and dancing. It looked like something out of Video Music Box. The movie was tame and not as raunchy as I expected, but there is at least one topless scene, lots of sexual themes and a hilarious scene featuring a police officer, tofu jelly and a bag of poop.
BTS was funny, entertaining and impressive for Su Chao-Pin’s first shot at directing movies. The director of the movie offered some insight into the film and answered questions from the audience at the NYAFF screening. 4 lucky viewers got a special giveaway which was a mini book of porn. Do check out Su Chao-Pin’s other projects featured in NYAFF 2011 including Cabbie which he wrote and Reign of Assassins which he co-directed with John Woo.
Su Chao-Pin tagging up a poster in the lobby.
Tags: lincoln center, movie, new york asian film festival, new york city, nyaff, nyc, review, subway cinema
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