When the Dragon Swallowed the Sun
Documentary by Dirk Simon that takes a fresh look at the tensions between Tibet and China, reassessing the success of the 14th Dalai Lama and counting the cost of his pacifist stance, which clearly has done little to influence the way policymakers in Beijing view the issue of subjecting Tibet to their will. The film faces up to some of the fundamental contradictions of the current position of monks, who in many ways serve as a leadership for the resistance against China, but must also accommodate their religious vows, and considers the idea that the movement for autonomy has been weakened by the divide between the Dalai Lama and more radical elements. A fresh look at events and a re-evaluation of the future make this a thought-provoking film for anyone interested in the issue.
Pina
A must-see for dance lovers and 3D skeptics. Directed by Wim Wenders, this documentary is a homage to the great German choreographer Pina Bausch, featuring interviews, both with the star and her dancers. Bausch died soon after the film went into production, and the intensity of emotion, expressed in her creative work, is given a further twist as dancers recreate the power and mystery of her vision. Wenders allows the 3D format to bring audiences into greater intimacy with the dancers, without crowding them. There is so much in the great choreographer’s life that the film feels a little broken up, with no focus either on an individual work or dancer. For all that, the film manages to convey something important about one of the major figures of 20th-century dance.
Step Up to the Plate
Documentary by director Paul Lacoste provides a captivating look behind the scenes of Michel Bras’ legendary hotel-restaurant in the remote plains of Laguiole, France, which has held three Michelin star for many years. There is plenty of kitchen wizardry on display, but like the recent release Jiro: Dreams of Sushi, this film is as much about the philosophy of food, tradition, and at the very center, the transfer of these things from father to son. At the heart of Step Up to the Plate is Michel Bras, one of the great luminaries of the European culinary establishment, and his son Sebastien who is soon to take over his father’s mantle. A clever balancing act between a family drama and food porn, this is a must see for foodies.
Burma: A Human Tragedy
Narrated and produced by Anjelica Huston, this documentary provides savage testimony to the inequity perpetrated by the military junta in Burma and the terrible suffering of the Burmese people, especially the Karen, which the junta has targeted for ethnic cleansing. It is not a film for the fainthearted, and shows images of the bloody toll exacted by the brutal and incompetent regime. The film attempts to clarify the complex web of hostilities that ravage the land, and is an in-your-face indictment of a conflict that for the most part remains on the fringes of international consciousness.
First Time
Another local romantic drama featuring beautiful people suffering from incurable illness. Sometimes you just wish they would get on with it and just die — but that is a rather unsympathetic way to look at Angelababy (aka, Yang Ying 楊穎), who plays a sickly young girl who only has her dreams of romance to sustain her in her lonely life. Inevitably, she meets up with rock ’n’ roller Mark Chao (趙又廷), who encourages her to realize her dreams. Tragedy and spiritual uplift follow. It is not much of a surprise that the real marketing ploy of the film is theme music penned by the king of Taiwan’s contemporary music scene Jay Chou (周杰倫), and indie singer/songwriter Cindy Yen (袁詠琳).
A Few Best Men
Nobody has a good word to say about this gross-out Australian comedy that makes a host of talented people look bad. For starters, the film is directed by Stephan Elliott (Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Easy Virtue), but he is unable to make much of the brain numbingly stupid script by Dean Craig (Death at a Funeral), which is painfully derivative. It borrows shamelessly from his own Death at a Funeral, with plenty of echoes from the The Hangover. American Pie looks classy by comparison, and one cannot help feel sorry for Olivia Newton-John, who tries to vamp it up, but she is no match for Stifler’s Mom.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built