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edit: I've just read that Silence (2016) was also filmed in Taiwan.

A screen shot of the trailer of the film The Most Terrible Time of my Life (1993), (Japanese: Waga jinsei saiaku no toki, 我が人生最悪の時) starring Masatoshi Nagase, directed by Kaizô Hayashi (IMDB, Wikipeida, YouTube Trailer) shown below shows in the translated subtitles:

Filmed on Location in Taiwan; A Japan-Taiwan co-Production

Is there anywhere I can read further about this? Where was it filmed in Taiwan? Why was it filmed in Taiwan? The film is rich in visuals, Even the name Mike Hama (Mike Hammer) brings imagery.

Was the filming in Taiwan for visual reasons, or business, production, or plot reasons?

Screenshot

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The book East Asian Cinemas: Exploring Transnational Connections on Film (2008, edited by Leon Hunt and Leung Wing-Fai) covers a lot of the background information for this film that might interest you (see Chapter 11 written by Theresa Geller). Regarding the location for filming, the book asserts that the film is a political allegory (p 177). It was shot in the 1990s when ties between the two countries were strengthening, despite protests from Beijing, and it was shot in the style of post-WWII film noir, evoking the period when Asia was dramatically re-structured. It was filmed with cooperation from the Taiwanese government.

You can read the entire chapter here.

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    Wow! That's quite an analysis. I was vaguely aware of some of the connections, but having seen this now I'd really like to watch it again. I'm still looking for a simple statement of a reason for the choice of set location in Taiwan rather than Japan. Does the story actually take place in Taiwan? Or was it easier to find era-friendly scenery? Or was it done for business reasons? The text alludes to the line "We Japanese are your countrymen now." (near the end of the trailer) but in the post-war era I still don't understand what this means. Thanks!
    – uhoh
    May 9, 2017 at 2:49
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    The film is about the changing relationship between the countries. The two countries are not so much settings for the film as they are characters in the film.
    – MJ6
    May 9, 2017 at 13:35
  • Ah! OK That's what I needed. That may have been obvious to some but I never considered this film was in anyway a metaphore. Thank you for your follow-up! I'll go find a copy and watch it again.
    – uhoh
    May 9, 2017 at 13:40

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