| Even though the world may be falling apart, youth is one thing that remains true and beautiful.
A-yu is the teenaged daughter of a fish ball merchant. Exuding a certain naivete, she brings her passion for life to the theater.
A-jin is a musician who studied composition in Japan. There he had a Japanese girlfriend whom he later followed to Shanghai. He has now returned to Taiwan a lonely figure.
A-yu and A-jin meet and fall in love. But A-yu is under great pressure from her father to marry a doctor's son, which can guarantee her a secure future. The year is 1945, the last year of Japanese rule over Taiwan. When the Allied Forces begin bombing Taiwan, the ensuing evacuation separates the lovers, but they correspond by mail to keep their relationship going.
By the time A-yu and A-jin meet again, Taiwan has been returned to Chinese rule under the Nationalists. Their relationship is put under even more strain as A-yu's father insists that she marry the doctor's son and the wedding date, February 28, is fast approaching. Their love is doomed.
"March of Happiness" is a story of youthful love in a politically tumultuous era where ethnic identity, be it Taiwanese, Shanghainese, Japanese or Chinese, is a contentious issue.
Courtesy of Asian Film Connections, an HKFlix Affiliate Site.
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