Taiwanese film “First of May” will be released in Japan later this month

"First of May" (2015 film) trailer

The best known cinematic association of "First of May" is with the famous cemetery scene from the 1971 film "Melody."  More than 40 years later, the song has inspired yet another tender love story, a Taiwanese romance film which is aptly called "First of May."

The film is slated for late May release in Japan. The tagline reads:

A love story spanning two generations, this seems like a time fantasy, perhaps a cross between the Korean film "Il Mare" and Jack Finney’s "The Love Letter."  The director of the film was quoted as saying that he came across the Bee Gees’ song while he was hunting for a piece that he could use for his new film project, and that as soon as he heard the Bee Gees version of  "First of May," he knew that he had to use it. Judging from the trailer, etc., the film’s production team opted to use a cover version, and not the original Bee Gees version, though.  

The arrangement is very loyal to the original, but the lyrics are slightly changed.  Where Barry rhetorically sang, "But guess who’ll cry come first of May" in the original, the Taiwanese version is much more straight forward with "But guess we’ll cry come 1st of May."  I wonder if the change was required by the film’s story. 

The film was released on first of May, 2015 in Taiwan, and will be released on May 28, 2016 in Japan at Cinemart Shinjuku/Shisaibashi and will travel to other theaters across Japan.

{BGD – May, 2016}