Politics, love, and friendship collide in director Ya-Che Yang's Girlfriend Boyfriend, a love story spanning almost 30 years of Taiwanese history. It begins when officials question the rebellious behavior of two students after they incite a protest against their school's uniform policy. The inquiry unearths secrets from their father Liam's past and the film flashes back to his struggles with bisexuality during an oppressive cultural upheaval in the '80s. Complicated but compelling, the film also struggles a bit with Yang's erratic direction, but that flaw mirrors the indecisiveness of Liam himself, who is played engagingly by Joseph Chang. Lun Mei Gwei and Rhydian Vaughan bring emotional volatility to Mabel and Aaron, a sometime-couple and Liam's best friends. Like young people everywhere, these three must adapt to adulthood, coping with situations beyond their control.
