Mr. L

Leo, a middle-aged single man, lives in Taipei. He goes around town by subway. When the subway train gets into a tunnel, Leo pretends the tunnel is a wormhole.
Leo likes to see and make movies as well. A movie he is shooting is about "see" vs. "seen"; also pretending and dancing.
He tries to find friends on the Internet, but can't find any. Leo goes to the gym and tries to become stronger. However, his left leg is a big problem for weight training.
One night an imaginary friend, Mr. L (Louie), comes to his house, and promises him a miracle: the crippled Leo becomes a dancer. The miracle only lasts for a dance. Leo is still a cripple and a lonely guy. Leo finds out Mr. L actually is Mr. Lonely himself.
Yet everything seems to be a movie Leo/Louie makes.
In the end, Leo goes away on a train. The train gets into a tunnel.

  • Benjamin Gan
    Director
  • Benjamin Gan
    Writer
  • Benjamin Gan
    Producer
  • Benjamin Gan
    Key Cast
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    L先生
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    38 minutes 33 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 7, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Taiwan
  • Country of Filming:
    Taiwan
  • Language:
    Chinese, English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Benjamin Gan

Benjamin Gan, a Taiwanese novelist and director, graduated from the English Department of Soochow University.
He has been an editor in chief of a travel magazine and a publishing company. As a writer, Benjamin Gan has published lots of short stories and poems. His works can be described as surrealistic and absurdist. He has won two literary awards for fiction.

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Director Statement

Reality vs. illusion could be one of the themes of Mr. L. In the movie, illusion seems be dreams, imagination, pretending and a film within a film. Leo sleeps twice in the movie. Is it possible that the audience is only watching his dreams? Someone in the tunnel said, "Can you pretend this is a wormhole?" Actually wormhole and movie are quite similar. Don't you think so? They both take us to a different place and time. Maybe Leo and Louie belong to two different parallel universes. But don't forget that everything can be only pretending like cosplayers in the movie. Well, this is only my interpretation. You can have your own Marienbad too. Just pretend we met at Marienbad last year.