A Confucian Confusion [LAST SCREENINGS]

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Art versus commerce, friendship versus status, independence versus conformity – values clash and collide in Edward Yang’s study of an increasingly Western-influenced country heading into the 21st Century minus a steady moral compass. Moving from breakout hit A Brighter Summer Day’s investigation of the past to a critical survey of the present, A Confucian Confusion charts the tangled web of emotional and business manipulations among a group of young urban professionals. At its center is Molly (Ni Shu-Chun), director of a floundering public relations firm. Alienated by the childish fiancé (Bosen Wang) who bankrolls her enterprise and frustrated by the demands of an assistant Qiqi (Xiangqi Chen) and her own fiance Ming (Wei-Ming Wang), Molly lashes out at everyone in her path and threatens to dismantle the company altogether. Meanwhile (amidst several other subplots), Molly’s talk show host sister (Li-Mei Chen) attempts to dissuade her separated husband from continuing to write a dark novel about the return of Confucius to a jaded modern society. Injecting comedic elements into his patented brand of earnest soul-searching, Yang finds humor as well as pathos in the desperate behavior of a lost and lonely generation.