The age-old tradition of glove puppetry in Taiwan is featured in a new documentary by the Hanson production company.
Sponsored by the Government Information Office (GIO), the filmmakers announced the airing of their film Theatre in the palm of your hand -- glove puppetry in Taiwan (掌中舞春秋-台灣布袋戲) at a press conference yesterday.
Glove puppetry is the use of elaborately made puppets that fit on one hand. The puppeteers stand behind a translucent cloth and usually use each hand to maneuver a different puppet while using their voices to match the movements of the puppets.
Legend has it that this art originated with a scholar in China who was not invited to serve on the emperor's court. He invented glove puppetry as a way to express his opinions on the government and persuade people to his point of view.
Glove puppetry is a 200-year-old tradition which started during the Qing dynasty (1644 to 1911) in the Chuan, Chao and Chang provinces. A wave of immigration from those provinces to Taiwan brought puppetry to the area.
As the popularity of puppeteering grew, it began to use the local Hokkien dialect and became a uniquely Taiwanese art acting simultaneously as entertainment and social commentary.
"[Taiwan] took this art form from China and built upon it until it reached perfection," said Tsen Yong-yi (曾永義), a professor of Chinese cultural studies at National Taiwan University.
Perfection can also be used to describe the end result of the documentary which, according to producer Lee Yuh-hu (李玉琥), took three years, 14 crew members and NT$10 million to make.
Famous for taking his time with his films and for striving for perfectionism, director Yu Kang-ping (虞戡平) took what originally began as a 30-minute documentary and made it into a two-hour film.
Filmmakers faced political difficulties as well. Filming began in November 1997 and was completed by March last year. At the time, the GIO refused to air the film because it dealt with a number of sensitive issues regarding the then ruling KMT regime as well as the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. However, filmmakers were determined to see their documentary aired and now, four GIO directors later, it's finally about to come out.
"If art becomes a tool of the government, it can only achieve short-lived glory," Yu said.
What makes this documentary different from other documentaries made about glove puppetry is its emphasis on history. Rather than exploring the technique of puppetry, the film is about seeing the history of Taiwan in the last 200 years through examining the art of glove puppetry.
"Puppeteering and society's movements progressed together. Each reflects the others' development," Lee said.
"This film helps people understand a history of Taiwan that has been overlooked and ignored," Yu said.
Until about five years ago, glove puppetry had faded into the background of Taiwan, seen only in temples and failing to attract huge audiences. Then, around 1997, glove puppetry became a fad and again gained widespread popularity. A glove puppetry channel on cable television was created and last year a full length motion picture featuring glove puppets was released.
The filmmakers will hold a public showing of the documentary at the New York, New York shopping mall on Saturday at 1:30pm. It will also be aired on the Public Television Service channel (PTS, 公視) on May 24 and May 31 at 10pm.
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