THE PERSONALS is a subtle and astonishing film that begins as a funny and sardonic look at modern day matchmaking, then evolves into a complex depiction of the price of intimacy. It is a comedic yet dramatic look at one of the oldest and perhaps strangest of all rituals--the search for a mate.

Honored at the Cannes Film Festival (Un Certain Regard), actress Rene Liu gives a lustrous performance as the complicated and strong-willed Dr. Du Jiazhen, whoe navigates through a world of thwarted dreams and endless longing in her determination to find a mate. Like the scientist she is, she approaches the process in a very logical and rational way: she places an ad in the newspaper and arranges meetings at a local restaurant with the men who respond. The always awkward encounters range from the very funny to the very strange as she sorts through this hapless and inappropriate group of suitors which includes everyone from a shoe fetishist to a pimp looking for new call girls.

As Du struggles through her search, we learn more and more about her life and her reasons for enduring this humiliating process. The apparently innocent Du is not all we've been led to believe, but with a secret objective that unfolds through the phone messages and diary entries she leaves.

In these beautifully shot and expertly acted scenarios Rene Liu doesn't allow her character to become a victim. To help keep the film authentic, director Chen Kuo-fu used non-professionals as well as trained actors to play the men Du encounters. Rene Liu's great talent emerges as she plays straight woman to these men without losing the integrity of her character, which is the heart of the film. Kuo-fu has created characters that "crystallize the mix of traditional and modern Chinese values in contemporary Taiwan society," (Variety) and has shown them from the rarely seen female perspective.