Sweet Alibis (甜蜜殺機)

Country Taiwan
Year 2014
Genre Comedy / Suspense
Format Color / Scope / DCP
Runtime 112 min
Status Completed
Release Date Jan. 17, 2014 (Taiwan)
Director LIEN Yi-Chi
Producers WANG Tzu-wei
Casts Alec SU, Ariel LIN, Matt WU

Festival

2014 Far East Film Festival, Udine, Italy – Competition

2014 Osaka Asian Film Festival – Competition

2013 Taipei Golden Horse International Film Festival

Official Trailer

Synopsis

A tale of murder, greed, revenge, love and chocolate!

Chi-yi is a veteran cop, who values his own safety more than anything else and is therefore infamous for his cowardice and poor efficiency at work. Yi-ping, on the other hand, is just graduated from the police academy and is more than ready to prove herself regardless of any risks. Daughter of the head of the National Policy Agency, Yi-ping is secretly kept away from danger by being appointed to team up with Chi-yi. Starting from a seemingly pointless case of a puppy’s accidental death, from eating chocolate, the essentially incompatible pair unexpectedly digs up the clues to a series of mysterious deaths.

A police rom-com with fully-fledged fantasy is sure to blow your mind!

Director’s Statement

Sweet Alibis appears to be a police detective comedy; however, it is essentially a melodrama aiming to explore interpersonal relationships of all kinds, such as family relations, friendship, brotherhood, love and same sex romance. In terms of character setting, we try to communicate the complexities of human nature. Each crime committed in the story is motivated by love, which can hardly be dealt with reason when it gets too strong. In the plots are inserted some crazy and even absurd humor. Such arrangement is made to highlight the intensity and purity of love. Above all, I hope the audience can get a good laugh from this film, which is what I intended to do in the first place.

Director / LIEN Yi-Chi

Born in 1977, Lien is one of the most anticipated young directors in Taiwan. Starting his career as a TV drama writer and documentary director, he also participated in many film projects, such as Silk (2005), the biggest production of its time in Taiwan, and was an assistant director for Cape No. 7 (2008), the largest grossing Taiwanese movie of all-time. In 2011, he presented his feature debut Make Up, which was selected by Tokyo Intentional Film Festival and Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival. Make Up was also the opening film of the Golden Horse Fantastic Festival of the same year. The next year, he made a TV movie “Forgotten,” which garnered four nominations in the Golden Bell Awards. Sweet Alibis is his latest feature.

Filmography

2013 Sweet Alibis (甜蜜殺機)
– Golden Horse International Film Festival

2012 Forgotten (TV movie) (遺忘)

2011 Make Up (命運化妝師)
– 24th Tokyo Intentional Film Festival
– 15th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival
– 2nd Golden Horse Fantastic Festival

CASTS

Alec SU as Chi-yi



Taiwanese singer and actor in films and TV dramas. He started his career at the age of 15 when he joined the boy band “The Little Tigers”(小虎隊) in 1988. After the disbandment, he turned to acting. Since 2008 he has been concentrating on his film career. In 2010, he won the best supporting actor award of The People’s Hundred Flower Awards for his role in The Message (風聲). In the same year, he won the best actor award in The Macau International Film Festival for his performance in The Love Song of Kang Ding (康定情歌). In 2011, he garnered the Golden Phoenix Awards of China Film Society Of Performing Arts Award for his film achievement in recent years. In 2012, he gave memorable performances in Design of Death (殺生) and The Assassin (銅雀台). In his latest feature Sweet Alibis, he plays a veteran detective who puts his own safety as the first priority and therefore refuses to take any risks. He takes up the comedic role and manages to keep the sincerity in his performance. He once again assures his status as a versatile actor. .

Ariel LIN as Yi-ping


Taiwanese actress and singer. She is one of the most popular and acclaimed actresses of the younger generation. In 2004, she was nominated for the best actress award of the Golden Horse Awards with her breakthrough performance in Love Me, If You Can (飛躍情海). In 2008 and 2012, she won the Best Leading Actress in a Television Series at the 43rd and 47th Golden Bell Awards. In Sweet Alibis, she plays a rookie who shows no fear of danger and is desperate to prove herself. Lin gives a vivid performance with her precise comedic timing and body language. She successfully exemplifies her acting range again.
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Matt WU as Snack/himself


Taiwanese actor in TV dramas and movies. In 2006, he was nominated for the best new comer award and the best support actor award with his role in The Touch of Fate (指間的重量), the first film he took part in. Later, he surprised the critics and the audience by playing the dark and complicated psychiatrist in Make Up in 2011. In Sweet Alibis, he takes another acting challenge by playing twins with completely different personalities and temperaments. Moreover, he is ready to amaze the viewers again with his deadpan humor.