The Presidential Office yesterday denied rumors that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would be the voice of the founding father of the Republic of China (ROC) in an animated movie produced by an independent filmmaker that is scheduled to be released in Taiwan and China by the end of the year.
Presidential Office spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said the Presidential Office respected the creativity and artistic vision of the private sector, and hoped the public would have a better understanding of the history of the founding of the ROC, as well as the roles and sacrifices of “revolutionary heroes.”
“However, it would be inappropriate for the president to do the voiceover and even if an invitation for him to do so were received, we would not make such arrangements,” he said.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The Chinese-language United Daily News reported yesterday that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Justin Chou (周守訓), the chief supervisor of the film, had proposed that Ma be the voice of Sun Yat-sen (孫中山), the founder of the ROC and the title character of the upcoming 3D animated movie, titled The Sun Rises.
The report quoted the film company as saying the story would be told in a way mirroring the adventures of Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings, and that the film would premier in Nanjing and Taipei at the end of this year.
The report said the film would follow the adventures of Sun, revolutionary leader Huang Hsing (黃興), female leader Chiu Chin (秋瑾), Lin Chueh-min (林覺民) and Yu Pei-lun (喻培倫).
Lin and Yu are among the 72 revolutionary martyrs who were buried at Huanghuakang (黃花崗) in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. Lin is best known for his farewell letter to his wife before a failed revolt. He was only 24 years old when he was arrested and executed.
Yu was an explosives expert who learned his skills in Japan where he studied medicine. He was wounded and arrested following an unsuccessful armed uprising. He was also 24 years old when he was killed.
The United Daily report quoted film director Chiu Li-wei (邱立偉) as saying his team had got the idea of making an animated movie about Sun’s revolution after seeing The Founding of a Republic (建國大業), which was made in China, and the Hong Kong-produced Bodyguards and Assassins (十月圍城).
Chiu told the paper that their film would be more like an “adventure epic” and targeted at children, young people and those who knew nothing about Sun.
Chiu said the Council for Cultural Affairs had agreed to provide some funding for the project.
The paper also interviewed the producer, Kevin Geiger, who said the story was about friendship and ideals.
Geiger told the paper that he knew very little about Sun before he joined the project and thought that the story about “China’s George Washington” would be “boring.”
However, after hearing the stories told by his Chinese friends and colleagues in Beijing, he was deeply intrigued by the project, he said. Geiger said they not only planned to release the film in Taiwan and China, but also hoped to sell the movie in Europe and the US.
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