Goddamned Asura, the multifaceted psychological drama of Taiwanese director Yi-an Lou who also co-wrote the story with Singing Chen, was inspired by real events from newspaper reports on random killings.  The intriguing and violent film delves into the desperation of Taipei’s disenchanted youth as they struggle to reconcile their social status with the pressures of adulthood.
It opens with a fatal night market shooting as Jan Wen (Joseph Huang) indiscriminately goes on a rampage shooting before a busy crowd. The event is recorded on a mobile phone. The twisted social drama and fast-paced film follows half a dozen different youngsters who are, in one way or another, connected to the shooting.
Yi-an, who is known for his dark humor and character-driven intricate storylines, earned the best screenplay award at the Taipei Film Festival where Yu-xuan Wang, who portrays Linlin (also known as Zero), won the best supporting actress honors. She earned the same award at the Golden Horse Film Festival.
In an email interview, director Yi-an talked about the most challenging part of doing this movie: “In terms of execution, the most challenging shoot is the night market scene. This is a night market that is actually still in business.
“When filming shooting or fighting scenes, the crew must control all entries and exits so that our background actors can walk according to our plans and avoid all the actual tourists.
“In terms of the creative process, the most challenging part is the character portrayal of the murderer of the random killing event, Jan Wen. It is hard when writing a random killing attack. A slight bias may make the audience disgusted. Therefore, we must try to look at this person from various perspectives.
“Whether it is the perspective of the perpetrator or the family of the victim, we must really put ourselves in their shoes. Only by looking at things from different angles can we have the opportunity to restore this demon that everyone shouts and beats back into a human being in the end.”
On the crime drama’s underlying theme, the filmmaker said, “There are shadows because there is light. People have their own dark side, but they also have a good side. People exist because of imperfections.
“Since everyone may have that dark, cruel, violent, and angry side of them, maybe people can also look at those who have done wrong with a more tolerant attitude. That could also be you or me.
“This also takes us back to the original intention of this film, the discussion about the abolition of the death penalty. Who is more damned? Who should be the one to die? Who is undeserving of forgiveness?”