The biggest box-office hit in Taiwan this year will soon be shown on the mainland despite previous media reports the film may be blocked due to its Japan-flavored storyline.

The film will appear in Chinese mainland cinemas, Li Weiyi, the spokesman of Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, told a news conference in Beijing this morning.

The state-run China Film Group is making the arrangements, he added.

"It is normal for any artwork such as movies, TV series, novels and paintings to spark different comments when they are released," Li said. "Speculation that the mainland will block the film due to its Japanese elements was groundless."

Cape No. 7 tells the story of a failed Taiwanese rock musician who returns to his small coastal hometown and is forced to play in a hastily assembled amateur band that will open for a Japanese pop star. He falls in love with a Japanese publicist overseeing the show.

Another thread portrays a romance between a Japanese teacher and a Taiwanese woman when the island was a Japanese colony from 1895 to 1945.

It was written and directed by Wei Te-sheng.

With an investment of NT$50 million (US$1.5 million), the movie became a hit in Taiwan after debuting in August. By October, it had raked in more than NT$400 million, second only to Titanic in Taiwan's cinematic history.

The film won six awards including The Outstanding Taiwanese Film of the Year at the 2008 Golden Horse Awards, a much coveted Chinese-language film prize, on December 6.

(Shanghai Daily December 17, 2008)