Liberty Times (LT): Your plan for Formosa Wonderland (豐盛之城) is reminiscent of reports that you were heartbroken after a historically accurate village that you painstakingly built as the set for your film “Seediq Bale” was torn down after filming ended.
Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖): It did not just happen after that film. For Kano, I also built a historical set. It broke me up to see this thing I had poured so much effort into torn down after filming ended, so I started exploring ways to preserve sets.
One of the unexpected lessons directing has taught me is that cinematic production can help create and sustain local tourism. That Cape No. 7 (海角七號) promoted tourism in Kenting was an unintended side-effect of that film. By the time I shot Kano, Chiayi County businesses fully supported my efforts.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
I have this fantasy of having a theater that plays my movies all year long. Filmmakers hate not being able to find theaters to screen a movie, or getting the two-weeks-or-less theatrical release. That means a lot of people would not be able to see the movie in the theater and would have to wait for the TV or DVD release.
I want to build a theater that plays my movies every day, for all eternity, where people could see my films whenever they want.
LT: The Formosa Wonderland project is to include a theater, a studio and an amusement park rolled into one. Are you not worried that it might be too ambitious?
Wei: Formosa Wonderland is an outgrowth of my Taiwan Trilogy (臺灣三部曲) project, which has been in the offing for years. I was done with the script in 2001, but I just was not ready to shoot it. Now that I have chalked up more than a decade of experience, I know that the time has come.
However, by now, the concept has evolved from creating sets for a film project to establishing a theme park. This reflects a problem that I have been wrestling with. Can movie sets have a life beyond the movie? Is there anything else that I can offer visitors after they have watched a film at the park? Would it not be nice if children could use the sets to experience history for educational purposes?
There are many farms in the park’s neighborhood. How would we approach them about forming collaborative relationships? How do we change the national paradigm of one-day tours?
To start with, I thought about organizing more recreational activities for visitors. That led to lodging arrangements with local hotels and hostels, dining arrangements with farms and places that sell local produce, and the whole thing just kept getting bigger. At its current scale, I would not be able to run it on my own, so I am relying on my management team and colleagues.
LT: One of the castles in Formosa Wonderland is a recreation of the Dutch colonial political and economic center of Fort Zeelandia, also known as Anping Fort (安平古堡). It is evident that you are trying to recreate the Taiwan of 400 years ago. What is the allure of that period?
Wei: In the 17th century, Taiwan was first mentioned in world history. Just the thought of being able to shoot a movie set in that era is exciting. I did not try anything of this scale with Seediq Bale and Kano, but Taiwan in the Age of Exploration is undoubtedly worthy of such a venture.
To understand Taiwanese history, it is important to understand how the variety of cultures on Taiwan started during this period. Compared with the Japanese colonial era from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the interaction between cultures in Taiwan in the 17th century was much greater.
The presence of the Dutch East India Company in the region introduced Europeans of different nationalities — including Dutch and residents of German states — as well as African slaves transported to Taiwan from Lontor Island in Indonesia, while there are also ethnic Han pirates, Siraya Aborigines and the Kingdom of Middag.
That Taiwan witnessed such diversity of culture when it first appeared in world history is alluring by itself. I plan to recreate the allure of the period in the park, so that Taiwanese and foreign visitors alike can witness this part of local history, which despite its liveliness is foreign to most Taiwanese.
It will not be an amusement park, but rather a recreation of Taiwan in the Age of Exploration using digital art, virtual and augmented reality, film props and real movie sets.
I must confess that I am ambitious. I want to create a park where visitors need to use their wits, not a traditional amusement park with roller coasters and water slides.
LT: Wang Chia-hsiang’s (王家祥) novel “Dao Feng Nei Hai” (倒風內海), on which you are basing the trilogy, starts with the Siraya people more than 400 years ago. What are your plans for adapting the novel to film?
Wei: My screenplay will approach that particular period from the separate perspectives of Aboriginal communities, Han Chinese and the Dutch.
The main theme of the trilogy is “escape.” If people want to live, they must escape. If they wish to survive, escape is imperative. History is the result of making concessions in the face of cultural confrontation and Taiwan’s story is no different.
Not understanding ourselves is probably the main cause of low self-esteem among Taiwanese. My films and my park should give adults and young people alike greater confidence, as they show that Taiwanese history is vibrant and interesting.
To be frank, my goal has always been to inspire self-confidence. Take Seediq Bale for example: I wanted more Aborigines to understand the resistance that their ancestors put up. The Taiwan Trilogy project is no different and also aims to make people more confident. The added value is that it will help foreigners understand Taiwan’s history and teach them to respect us.
LT: How do you plan to present the Siraya language, which was considered extinct [but has been the subject of revival efforts since 2001]?
Wei: I cannot recreate the Siraya language by myself. For that, I rely on National Tsing Hua University’s Institute of Linguistics. The institute has studied the language for more than two decades and successfully revived elements of it using the spelling system in the Sinckan Manuscript.
The manuscript comprises a series of contracts between Han people, the Dutch and people from Sirayan communities in the vicinity of the Tainan plains.
The institute is also looking at languages that have survived in the proto-Siraya category to further enrich the revived language’s vocabulary. It is possible to form coherent sentences in the language, so I have asked academics to render the screenplay for the trilogy’s first installment — Immolated Form — Siraya (火焚之軀 — 西拉雅) in the Siraya language.
The institute hopes that the movie could help revive the language from its dormancy and allow it to be used in daily life. I have always found it interesting that so many people can set their hopes on one movie.
LT: The theme park project would take you outside of the director’s chair. How do you do you see yourself in your new role?
Wei: I ask myself this question all the time. I am just a guy who shoots movies. What am I doing with a history theme park? Still, a director is used to leading film crews — I would now take charge of establishing the framework for business collaboration.
Everything planned for the park was conceived with the requirements of the script in mind. There is nothing sadder than an idea unfulfilled. Commitment to an idea is everything.
The biggest source of stress in this project is that I have no excuse not to succeed. I cannot blame failure on inadequate funding or the industry’s technical capabilities. The challenge is to create a place that people 50 or 100 years from now could still visit to feel that they are re-experiencing Taiwan as it existed in the 17th century during the Age of Exploration.
I am chasing my dream now because I have to do this before I get too old. If I wait too long, I might not have the endurance, agility of mind or social connections that I need and success would be even less likely.
Throw yourself at something and success will follow — that is what I believe. Maybe I am simple that way.
Translated by staff writers Jonathan Chin and Jake Chung
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