Lol I don't think it's purely your listening skill, there really are differences, in pronunciation, accent + tones, and vocabulary... I think I still struggle a lot with dramas. But I feel modern-day Taiwan is also chill enough and happy enough to adjust to tourists/English speakers so the experience is less harrowing when you're actually there.

Ty also for the movie info! I looked it up and it looks like the director is indigenous on his father's side, while one of the co-producers is the director of Cape No.7... It's also more recent than I thought! (Laughing because 2014 is still recent in my brain.)