Tsai, who built his career filming TV drama series, has recently crossed over into filmmaking, pursuing his ambition to bring Taiwanese film into the international arena. (photo by Chuang Kung-ju)	The scene in the movie Black & White in which an airplane collides with a skyscraper is a pioneering work in Taiwanese film production, giving viewers the chance to witness the directing prowess of Tsai Yueh-hsun. (courtesy of Prajna Works)

Amid the upsurge of Taiwanese film that started in 2010, Tsai Yueh-hsun’s NT$350-million motion picture Black & White Episode I: The Dawn of Assault is second only to Seediq Bale in terms of budget, and is the highest-budget debut work in Taiwanese directing history.

Big budgets, big scenes, big action, elaborate imagery and texture, with no letups, this action thriller was shot by Tsai with Hollywood-grade excitement and suspense, setting a new benchmark for Taiwanese commercial film.

Tsai Yueh-hsun was born and raised in a movie-making family: his father was seasoned Taiwanese film director Tsai Yang-ming. Despite this advantage, the younger Tsai still started at the ground level in filmmaking, undergoing numerous failures and ruts in his career. Now, having made his mark in the TV industry, he has once again returned to filmdom. But when he decided to spend a huge sum of money on his first film, people asked, “Are you nuts?”

The answer is in the movie. Tsai Yueh-hsun seems to be echoing the words of the character Wu Yingxiong, played by Mark Chao: “You know, it takes guts to follow the right path!”

This statement comes from deep inside him: he wanted to prove that his 26 years of conviction and determination in this industry were indeed the right path.