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.
May 6 to May 12 Those who follow the Chinese-language news may have noticed the usage of the term zhuge (豬哥, literally ‘pig brother,’ a male pig raised for breeding purposes) in reports concerning the ongoing #Metoo scandal in the entertainment industry. The term’s modern connotations can range from womanizer or lecher to sexual predator, but it once referred to an important rural trade. Until the 1970s, it was a common sight to see a breeder herding a single “zhuge” down a rustic path with a bamboo whip, often traveling large distances over rugged terrain to service local families. Not only
Ahead of incoming president William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20 there appear to be signs that he is signaling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the Chinese side is also signaling to the Taiwan side. This raises a lot of questions, including what is the CCP up to, who are they signaling to, what are they signaling, how with the various actors in Taiwan respond and where this could ultimately go. In the last column, published on May 2, we examined the curious case of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweight Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) — currently vice premier
The last time Mrs Hsieh came to Cihu Park in Taoyuan was almost 50 years ago, on a school trip to the grave of Taiwan’s recently deceased dictator. Busloads of children were brought in to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), known as Generalissimo, who had died at 87, after decades ruling Taiwan under brutal martial law. “There were a lot of buses, and there was a long queue,” Hsieh recalled. “It was a school rule. We had to bow, and then we went home.” Chiang’s body is still there, under guard in a mausoleum at the end of a path
Last week the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released a set of very strange numbers on Taiwan’s wealth distribution. Duly quoted in the Taipei Times, the report said that “The Gini coefficient for Taiwanese households… was 0.606 at the end of 2021, lower than Australia’s 0.611, the UK’s 0.620, Japan’s 0.678, France’s 0.676 and Germany’s 0.727, the agency said in a report.” The Gini coefficient is a measure of relative inequality, usually of wealth or income, though it can be used to evaluate other forms of inequality. However, for most nations it is a number from .25 to .50