The Taiwan Oyster
| The Taiwan Oyster | |
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Theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Mark Jarrett |
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| Written by |
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| Music by | Dylan Jones |
| Cinematography | Mike Simpson |
| Edited by | Ron Dulin |
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| Distributed by | SnagFilms |
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Release date
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Running time
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105 minutes |
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| Language | English |
The Taiwan Oyster is a 2013 American low budget adventure comedy-drama Indie film directed by Mark Jarrett. The film marks Jarrett's feature film debut, and was based upon his own experiences living in Taiwan and working as kindergarten teachers from 1999 to 2001. The events in the movie take place when a fellow ex-pat dies. Described as a Texas road film in a Taiwan setting, the project stars Billy Harvey, Leonora Moore, and Jeff Palmiotti.
Simon (Billy Harvey) and Darin (Jeff Palmiotti) are two laid-back American ex-patriates who teach kindergarten and run a magazine called The Oyster in Taiwan in 2000. When fellow ex-pat (Will Mounger) dies an unfortunate death, they learn that there is no one to contact his Stateside family and no one to claim his body. They decide to make it their mission to ensure he receives a proper burial rather than allow his being cremated by the local authorities. Unfortunately, the morgue overseer demands a bribe in order to release the body.
Nikita (Leonora Moore), a sympathetic clerk, helps them steal Jed's body and joins them on their road trip across Taiwan looking for the ideal burial site. Their efforts are complicated by having to keep Jed's body on ice in the bed of their pickup truck while transporting it all over Taiwan.
Mark Jarrett had lived in Taichung, Taiwan, from 1999 to 2001, and set his story to take place six months after the region's September 21, 1999 921 earthquake. Jarrett's original idea was to think of a low-budget road movie. He had been reading William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying and decided that his story could take place in Taiwan. Based upon the director's own experiences, the screenplay was written by director Jarrett, his brother Mitchell Jarrett, and by Jordan Heimer, and was shot at locations across Taiwan using 5D and 7D equipment. The film's title refers to the magazine published by the lead protagonists, which is itself modeled after one at which Jarrett himself worked. The Jarrett bros. returned to Taiwan in 2009 to scout locations. and filming was done through "repeated acts of low-budget, guerrilla filmmaking." Funding was chiefly acquired through Spoonbill Pictures, LLC with a large help from two Kickstarter fundraisers.
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