The Rooftop (film)


The Rooftop is a 2013 Taiwanese musical film. It is the second feature film directed by Taiwanese singer/actor Jay Chou. Similar to his first feature film, Secret, Jay played multiple roles in the production of the film, as the main lead, director, script-writer and music composer.
The Rooftop is one of the many scripts that Chou has written since the success of Secret in 2007. Most of the scripts are sequels to Secret. However, Chou and his long-time friend Will Liu decided to work on The Rooftop as a challenge to produce the first Chinese mainstream musical-come-martial arts film. They claimed that The Rooftop is a film that is difficult to be categorized, for it combined the elements of musical extravaganza and actions.
Chou has made good use of his experience from filming The Green Hornet in Hollywood, Initial D in Hong Kong and directing over 60 of his own music videos, to conceptualize The Rooftop with music as its roots, combined with actions, to create a genre never seen before in Asia.

Name

The film is released in Mainland China as "天台爱情", to avoid duplication and confusion with box-office sales with another Chinese film named "天台". However, the film poster and promotional materials remained as "天台“. The film is released in all other countries as "天台".

Plot

The story occurs in a fantasy world called Galilee City, that consists of two contrasting communities. One group lives on the Rooftop, where they dance and sing their days away with no worries. While those on the ground are affluent and possess more power.
In a chance encounter, Wax gets to meet his billboard dream-girl, Starling, who is an up-and-coming actress/singer. However, their blossoming love is put into test when both are involved in the fight over power on the ground.

Cast

Supporting Cast

The film was shot on location in Taiwan, Beijing and Shanghai.

Achievements

The film was named as New York Asian Film Festival Closing Night Selection.