# David Loman (大尾鲈鳗)
**David Loman** (大尾鲈鳗) is a 2013 Taiwanese gangster comedy directed by Chiu Li-Kwan (邱瓈宽), in which a small-town photographer accidentally becomes a crime boss and renames himself David Loman, an English name that puns on the Taiwanese phrase for a big-time hooligan.[1](https://sino-cinema.com/2016/06/25/review-david-loman-2/) • [2](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/eweekly/EE3849869986/) Released in Taiwan on 1 February 2013 for the [Lunar New Year](https://www.edgepedia.org/lunar-new-year) holiday, it became one of the highest-grossing Taiwanese films of its era and spawned a 2016 sequel.[3](https://letterboxd.com/film/david-loman/) • [4](https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/244085567/Final_Copy_2020_06_23_Chang_C_PhD_Redacted.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | 大尾鲈鳗 (Da wei lu man); English title David Loman[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771932/) |
| Director | Chiu Li-Kwan (邱瓈宽), a veteran manager and producer directing her first feature[1](https://sino-cinema.com/2016/06/25/review-david-loman-2/) • [6](https://www.moviexclusive.com/movie/david-loman-22823236144007240151-2013) |
| Release | 1 February 2013, Taiwan; 98 minutes; distributed by Warner Bros (Taiwan)[3](https://letterboxd.com/film/david-loman/) • [7](https://ablazeimage.com/category/news-release/2013-release/) |
| Cast | Chu-Ko Liang (猪哥亮) as David Loman, Amber Kuo, and Yo Yang (Tony Yang)[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771932/) |
| Taiwan box office | NT$413 million nationwide, more than three times its Taipei gross[8](https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/10871/14386/1/LinY.pdf) |
| Local ranking | Fifth among the top-earning Taiwanese films in the local market, described as a "New Year's Film"[4](https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/244085567/Final_Copy_2020_06_23_Chang_C_PhD_Redacted.pdf) |
| Sequel | David Loman 2 (2016), released for Lunar New Year 2016 with about NT$140 million in box office[9](https://www.filmcommission.taipei/en/newsCT.aspx?id=7824&pid=62) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story is set in Taiwan in the 1990s, before the island was fully urbanized. Zhu Dade (朱大德), played by Chu-Ko Liang, is an ordinary photographer in a small country town raising his young daughter Zhu Xiaoqin (朱小芹, played by Amber Kuo); the two move to the city of Taizhong in central Taiwan to seek a better life.[1](https://sino-cinema.com/2016/06/25/review-david-loman-2/) • [10](https://tpe-pp.com.tw/index.php/tw/2013/item/52-2013-21) As the economy booms and gang warfare spreads, Zhu accidentally sets off a major shootout that kills the rest of the gang, and he unwittingly becomes the man in charge.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771932/)
Renaming himself David Loman, he stands at the top of the local underworld for over a decade, and the price of his fame and power is losing his daughter, who grows resentful of him.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771932/) A second thread follows the young [Xiao He](https://www.edgepedia.org/xiao-he) (贺翔, played by Yo Yang), whose fortune-teller father Old He is killed after being mistaken for Zhu, whom he closely resembles; Zhu finds the son, and the two form a team that, together with the reconciled daughter, sets out to avenge Old He.[10](https://tpe-pp.com.tw/index.php/tw/2013/item/52-2013-21) The film satirizes the modernization of Taiwanese organized crime: the gang goes corporate and international, coordinates through an online fan page, and its boss behaves less like a fearsome triad chief than a neighborhood fixer solving residents' small problems.[11](https://www.juksy.com/article/139599)
### Sequel
Chiu Li-Kwan reassembled much of the original team, including Chu-Ko Liang, Amber Kuo, Yo Yang, cinematographer Lin Bing-hua, and editor Chen Po-wen, for David Loman 2 (大尾鲈鳗2), released for Lunar New Year 2016.[1](https://sino-cinema.com/2016/06/25/review-david-loman-2/) In the sequel, the retired Loman runs a guesthouse with his girlfriend while his daughter and her partner raise a son, and the plot turns on a kidnapping and the return of an enemy from the first film.[12](https://tfai.openmuseum.tw/mdb/mp_film/f4ba00d1f95041c1ce1255eb965422fd) It earned nearly NT$140 million, a solid result for a Taiwanese film, though its release also fed a public backlash among filmgoers who reject the vulgar style of some Taiwanese comedies.[9](https://www.filmcommission.taipei/en/newsCT.aspx?id=7824&pid=62) The sequel was also criticized by an anthropologist for its portrayal of the Tao (Yami) indigenous people, including a scene in which Tao-language protest chants are subtitled only as "protest" without translation.[18](https://www.taiwananthro.org.tw/post/2tqUS5jt6RKQht685n2fpnPnhaS)
## Production and cast
Chiu Li-Kwan, known in Taiwan's entertainment industry as a leading producer, made the film as her first feature as writer and director, with associate director Huang Chaoliang (黄朝亮).[6](https://www.moviexclusive.com/movie/david-loman-22823236144007240151-2013) • [1](https://sino-cinema.com/2016/06/25/review-david-loman-2/) It was produced by Polyface Films (柏合丽影业股份有限公司) and Kuan Yin Mu Film Production (宽银幕电影制作有限公司), shot on the Alexa digital camera, and edited by Chen Po-Wen.[10](https://tpe-pp.com.tw/index.php/tw/2013/item/52-2013-21) • [3](https://letterboxd.com/film/david-loman/) The producer Zhu Yanping (朱延平) served as supervising director.[12](https://tfai.openmuseum.tw/mdb/mp_film/f4ba00d1f95041c1ce1255eb965422fd)
The cast mixes veteran Taiwanese variety-show comedians with younger screen stars. Chu-Ko Liang, a hugely popular television host, leads as Zhu Dade; Kang Kang (康康) plays the antagonist; and supporting roles are filled by familiar faces including Su Zhu, Lin Mei-Hsiu, Lotus Wang, Miao Ke-li, and Ma Nien-hsien.[6](https://www.moviexclusive.com/movie/david-loman-22823236144007240151-2013) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771932/) The premiere on 31 January 2013 at the [Red House](https://www.edgepedia.org/red-house) in Ximending drew more than 200 celebrities on the red carpet, and advance block bookings by entertainers across seven Ximending cinemas, 29 screenings, and 8,888 seats brought in nearly NT$2.5 million before official release.[13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8L-TASLWKo)
## Box office
The film opened strongly in the crowded Lunar New Year season, taking NT$16.0 million (US$534,000) in its first three days in Taiwan.[7](https://ablazeimage.com/category/news-release/2013-release/) Sixteen days after release it had earned NT$350 million nationwide, breaking the pace of the previous record-setter Din Tao (2012), which had needed 45 days to pass NT$300 million.[14](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2013-02-18/23363858887.shtml?from=wap) It finished with NT$122 million (US$4.07 million) in Taipei, the highest-grossing domestic film of 2013 in that market, and a reported total above US$14 million across Taiwan.[7](https://ablazeimage.com/category/news-release/2013-release/) • [15](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781783204014_A26630651/preview-9781783204014_A26630651.pdf)
The nationwide figure of NT$413 million was more than three times its Taipei gross, an unusually strong regional skew that illustrates how films with a strong local flavor perform in central and southern Taiwan.[8](https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/10871/14386/1/LinY.pdf) A dissertation study of the top ten earning Taiwanese films in the local market places David Loman fifth, and notes that it raised wide discussion precisely because of its box-office success.[4](https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/244085567/Final_Copy_2020_06_23_Chang_C_PhD_Redacted.pdf)
## Language and reception
The film's comedy is built on wordplay in Taiwanese Hoklo (southern Min dialect spoken by many Taiwanese) that does not translate. The title itself is an example: 大尾鲈鳗, literally "big-tailed moray eel," sounds in Taiwanese like 大尾流氓, meaning a big-time hooligan, which is why the English title is the invented name David Loman.[2](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/eweekly/EE3849869986/) • [16](https://e-info.org.tw/node/216324) Other gags turn Mandarin phrases into Taiwanese homophones with vulgar meanings, and the humor draws on the tradition of the restaurant show, the bawdy live entertainment associated with Chu-Ko Liang's television career.[2](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/eweekly/EE3849869986/) • [17](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/eweekly/EB3854403440/) This local flavor is credited with drawing older audiences in central and southern Taiwan to cinemas during the [New Year](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-year) holiday, though it also drew negative reviews from critics who dismissed the film as vulgar slapstick.[2](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/eweekly/EE3849869986/)
Critical reception was divided. The Sino-Cinema review rated it 6/10, calling it a very local gangster comedy that gets by on its production values and light touch.[1](https://sino-cinema.com/2016/06/25/review-david-loman-2/) MovieXclusive's reviewer found the jokes unfunny and criticized a heavily Mandarin-dubbed export version that blunted the dialect wordplay.[6](https://www.moviexclusive.com/movie/david-loman-22823236144007240151-2013) On IMDb the film holds a rating of 4.2/10 from 373 users.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771932/) Commentators have also read the film more charitably as a snapshot of 1990s Taiwan, with its nostalgia for the period and its satire of gangster modernization.[4](https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/244085567/Final_Copy_2020_06_23_Chang_C_PhD_Redacted.pdf) • [11](https://www.juksy.com/article/139599)
## References
1. [Review: David Loman (2013), Sino-Cinema](https://sino-cinema.com/2016/06/25/review-david-loman-2/)
2. [《大尾鱸鰻》通俗語言與市井文化, 開眼電影網 E週報](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/eweekly/EE3849869986/)
3. [David Loman (2013), Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/film/david-loman/)
4. [Chang, C. (2020). PhD thesis on Taiwanese film marketing, University of Bristol](https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/files/244085567/Final_Copy_2020_06_23_Chang_C_PhD_Redacted.pdf)
5. [David Loman (2013), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2771932/)
6. [David Loman (大尾鲈鳗) (2013), MovieXclusive](https://www.moviexclusive.com/movie/david-loman-22823236144007240151-2013)
7. [2013 Release news, Ablaze Image](https://ablazeimage.com/category/news-release/2013-release/)
8. [Lin, Y. (2014). Transnational Connections in Taiwan Cinema of the 21st Century, University of Exeter](https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/bitstream/10871/14386/1/LinY.pdf)
9. [Taipei Film Commission news: Lunar New Year 2016 Taiwanese releases](https://www.filmcommission.taipei/en/newsCT.aspx?id=7824&pid=62)
10. [台北影業: 大尾鱸鰻 (2013)](https://tpe-pp.com.tw/index.php/tw/2013/item/52-2013-21)
11. [台灣黑道題材電影引爭議, JUKSY 街星](https://www.juksy.com/article/139599)
12. [台灣影視聽數位博物館: 大尾鱸鰻](https://tfai.openmuseum.tw/mdb/mp_film/f4ba00d1f95041c1ce1255eb965422fd)
13. [《大尾鱸鰻》首映 兩百明星助陣, Taipei Film Commission (YouTube)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8L-TASLWKo)
14. [《大尾鲈鳗》创16天全台3亿5票房新纪录, 新浪娱乐](https://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/2013-02-18/23363858887.shtml?from=wap)
15. [Directory of World Cinema: China 2 (Intellect Books)](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781783204014_A26630651/preview-9781783204014_A26630651.pdf)
16. [為非作歹的流氓，「大尾鱸鰻」登場, 環境資訊中心](https://e-info.org.tw/node/216324)
17. [大尾鱸鰻：諧弄與屎尿, 開眼電影網 E週報](https://app2.atmovies.com.tw/eweekly/EB3854403440/)
18. [傲慢的鱸鰻——談《大尾鱸鰻2》中被遮蔽的達悟語, 臺灣人類學與民族學學會](https://www.taiwananthro.org.tw/post/2tqUS5jt6RKQht685n2fpnPnhaS)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 2010–2014 films › Titles symbols to L*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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