Chang Duo Chiang is a dish the film’s main character eats everyday. Brave 20 opens with the meticulous process of Brave 20 being made. As each ingredient is added and becomes transformed into a tasty dish, the film seems to be hinting that there may be some qualitative change in the characters’ lives. On the contrary, the non-studious students pommel their teacher who scolds them as ‘useless human beings,’ and run out of school. Chi-wen, Ming-cian, and Ching-fen are confused adolescents in rather pointless relationships. Ming-cian was attracted to Ching-fen who had a rocker boyfriend while Chi-wen found himself interested in the prostitute living on the same floor of his apartment building. Confused youth, rock music and speeding motorcycles are the main subject of this feature debut film of director Wang Ming-tai. In a slow pace, the film modestly embraces the youths as they struggle through life in all its trials and tribulations. An affectionate self-portrait of the director’s own years as a confused teenager. (Michelle Sohn)