Set at a time when the Pacific War was coming to an end, this film tells of a sad love story at the time when Japan ruled over Taiwan. The difficult times of Taiwan′s modern history can be read through the trials of a couple. A-Jin, who studied music in Japan, and A-Yu, who is a theatre actress, fall in love. However, A-Yu′s father has other plans for A-Yu, as he intends to marry her off to a doctor′s son. Eventually A-Jin and A-Yu try to elope, only to meet with tragic consequences. The Tian-Ma coffee shop is the scene of a chaotic history that even the fateful couple can′t fully understand. It was a shop where the Japanese, the Local Province people, and the Outer Province people met in one place and exchanged dialogue in Minnanhua, Mandarin and Japanese. However the greatest irony was the tragic ending of lovers who became separated at the moment of joy of independence. This personal tragedy, however, was a premonition of the beginning of a tragic history which permeated Taiwan. Kuomintang officer Hsaio-Bao′s intense hatred and paranoia towards the Japanese, resulting eventually in murder, also become the premonition of a history that was troubled by the February 28th tragedy, and 40-odd years of state-of-emergency rule. Likewise, Tian-Ma coffee shop was a place where bittersweet love, artistic passion and tragic history co- existed. However, it seems that to director Lin Cheng-Sheng, Tian-Ma Coffee shop is also a place of nostalgia. (Kim Ji-Seok)