Zhang Di Seeks A-zu (张帝找阿珠) (1969)

Fellow villagers ZHANG Di and A-zu are in love with each other, however, there is a long-running feud between their parents. In addition, a love rival from a rich family tricks ZHANG Di into gambling away the gold necklace A-zu gave him, driving a wedge between the lovers. A-zu heartbrokenly leaves for Taipei to stay with her relatives. Regretting his action, ZHANG Di sets out with his buddy to look for his love. From the countryside to the city, the lovers encounter one difficulty after another, and their parents keep fighting.

In the late 1960s, ZHANG Di was a singer known for improvising on songs in musicals and Zhang Di Seeks A-Zu was his signature play. It prompted the film company to cast ZHANG Di as the male lead, starring opposite the famous female Taiwanese opera singer YANG Li-hua, in the Taiwanese-language musical with the same title. ZHANG Di and YANG Li-hua enjoyed tremendous popularity in musical theater and television respectively. Together with a superb supporting cast, including Ai-a-tsai, Ling-ling, Hoo-dau, LIN Sung-i, KANG Ting and Thuat-suann, Zhang Di Seeks A-Zu became a box-office hit, defying the decline of Taiwanese-language cinema.

Throughout the film, ZHANG Di and YANG Li-hua sing 19 beautiful songs written by the renowned lyricist YE Jun-lin Zhang Di Seeks A-Zu is the earliest existing modern film that YANG starred in. Dressed in a short skirt with her hair in two braids and daringly expressing her love, YANG showed a very different persona from the one she had in Taiwanese opera.