What if after thirty years, you’ll have a second chance with your first love? Is love really sweeter the second time around?
‘Encore Martha‘ is inspired by the real-life story of Huang Xiao -Ning, the female Taiwanese Elvis Presley. Featuring Fang Wen-Lin and Tammy Darshana-Lai and directed by Natasha Sung. The film depicts the story of Uncle Martha and her first love, Mandy. Uncle Martha is going about her usual business when she suddenly meets her long-lost first love whom she still dreams of at night––Mandy. As the two have coffee, Martha learns of some “good “news––Mandy’s husband has passed away. Her uneventful life is suddenly given purpose when she decides that she wants her back. But it has been 30 years since they last saw each other, and reconnecting proves to be no small challenge. Will Uncle Martha be able to sing an encore with her first love, or will she be doomed to singing the same old tune of heartbreak, over and over again?
WARNING: Spoiler alert! Read at your own risk.
The film opens with Uncle Martha finishing her last song on her set in the pub where she works as a professional balladeer. She went to the bar to get some drinks, and she noticed a young girl looking at her with admiration in her eyes. She asked the bartender to give that beautiful girl a nice drink. While drinking, she told the girl that she looked like her first love. And she told her that nothing lasts forever and that she should love before the moment is gone. The young lady answers that poetry is out and selfies are in. As they posed on her phone’s camera to take a selfie, Martha saw Mandy, her first love.
Martha told Mandy that the young lady was her sister, and she told the young girl to go back inside the pub. They told each other that they still looked the same. Martha asks her to come inside to have a drink, but the latter refuses, saying that it’s getting late. She asked for her Messenger account, but she told her she left her phone, so Martha told her to search for her ID, ‘Encore Martha’. They met at a restaurant after that night. Mandy brought her grandson, and Martha told the kid to call her Uncle. She ordered their favorite coffee and put two teaspoons of sugar in it, but the latter told her she was not drinking coffee anymore, so she ordered two orange juices instead.
As their conversation continues, Martha asks her if she still works at the kindergarten, and the latter says she quit after her daughter gave birth to her grandson, and unlike her, she’s still singing at the pub, and she thinks she has loads of girlfriends. But Martha told her that no one compares to her. She asked about her husband, but the latter became sad after hearing his name. She told her that her husband passed away. After receiving a message from her daughter, Mandy told her that they needed to go home, and the latter asked her to meet again soon.