不能沒有你 - No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti

不能沒有你 (No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti) is a 2009 movie out of Taiwan. Winner of the 46th Golden Horse (2009) Best Feature film. Directed by Leon Dai and starring Chen Wen-pin, Chao Yu-hsuan and Lin Chih-ju.

The movie starts with a a "based on a true story" message and a man threating to jump from a bridge. The story follows Li Wu-Hsiung and his 7 year old daughter, Mei from 2 weeks prior to the bridge event. Wu-Hsiung is a diver that cleans the bottom of cargo ships in Kaohsiung. Mei accompanies him to his jobs and saves him one time. The social services track him down and tell him to send Mei to school. At the school, Mei isn't allowed to register because Wu is not her legal guardian despite being her biological father. Wu makes a trip to Taipei looking for help. Upon return to Kaohsiung to what is a "resolved" situation, the school workers have escalated the case to social services and they are going to take custody away from Wu. Wu returns to Taipei to look for those the promised him a resolution only to find that they avoid him and will no longer acknowledge him. Driven to madness, Wu threatens to jump off the bridge, yelling that "society is unfair, I just want my daughter to go to school".



Wow. The film blew me away. It's gut wrenching to watch the red tap of government do the "wrong" thing. In this case, it is a simple premise, I want my daughter to go to school. But I can't now, because of some strange rule that legally makes me unfit to raise my daughter? What the?! Yes, its that terrible and its based on a true story. I don't watch many movies with my wife anymore. But we both felt terrible watching the events unfold.



The movie is very slow and we see a lot of daily activities of Wu and Mei. They are just simple people trying to get by life. They are poor, but happy to be together. The movie is also in black and white. I think it was a very good affect as I was paying attention to the details of life rather than the scenery.

A must watch for you Taiwan movie enthusiast. It's slow, presents a trying story, and has a sad ending. True to recent Taiwan film criteria. I don't think it's my favorite film of the year, but its up there for 2009.