I watched the short movie “Big Buddha” only after I finished watching “Big Buddha Plas”. It’s only 20 minutes long, which is equivalent to a condensed and streamlined version of “Big Buddha Plas”, but the main story plot is all told.
It tells the story of Choi Po, who works as a security guard at a Buddha statue factory, and his scavenging friend Tua Choi, who peeks into the factory owner’s car recorder, only to accidentally discover a murder, in which the factory owner murders his own mistress and hides her in a big Buddha statue.
The feature film is fuller in character and story, and has won several Golden Horse awards.
But the short film has its own strengths, being concise and evocative, with 20 minutes telling an underdog, underprivileged, playful and mocking story to its core.
2014 / Taiwan, China / Drama Short Film Crime / Huang Xinyao / Chen Zhusheng Zhuang Yizeng
The big Buddha statue is still waiting to be enlightened at the bottom of the mountain.
Outside the bronze statue factory, a factory guard, a factory owner, and a downtrodden man who lives off resource recycling intersect in a crazy story that drags even the Big Buddha into the water.
Do the gods pick people to bless? If people don’t know how to be human, how can the Buddha become a Buddha?
