After the first 30 minutes of nothing happening at all in Go Angels Go! (天使去哪兒), I started wondering if the rest of the film was going to be like this. Unfortunately, it was.
The film, produced by Taiwan-based RealMa Digimedia (龍馬文創), follows a group of investors and entrepreneurs from China who embark on a cycling journey down the eastern coast of Taiwan. And that pretty much sums up the whole movie, which, outside of its glossy production, feels closer to a family vacation video that you show your grandkids rather than something that should be shown in theaters.
The first five minutes are actually enticing — the main characters appear before a colorful and futuristic graphic backdrop to fast paced music, talking about why they want to go on this biking trip to Taiwan. It had the promises of a funny and edgy journey with these rich people discarding their suits and venturing into unknown territory. But it quickly falls flat.
Photo courtesy of atmovies.com
Go Angels Go! is billed as a documentary — but good documentaries have plenty of drama, tension and all the necessary ingredients of good storytelling. If it doesn’t, at least it could be educational. This really was not — it was just a very standard, uneventful trip that only provided minimal information about local culture or sights.
Whether this is a real documentary or a blatant propaganda film to attract Chinese tourists and show that the two sides of the strait are one big happy family is also up for debate. Here, Taiwan is portrayed as some sort of magical, slow-paced, ultra-friendly and pollution-free utopia where the people from China can find some respite. The film makes use of slow motion, wide and aerial panning, echoes of laughter and a new-age soundtrack to add to this dreamy atmosphere.
Throughout the film, an emphasis is placed on showing how hardworking, honest, kind and welcoming Taiwanese are, and how eager they are to showcase their culture.
The narrator, with a voice taken straight out of a Chinese Communist Party propaganda video, states from the very beginning: “Over the past few years, the people on the two sides of the strait have been interacting directly through various means. Through these contacts, they have started to understand each other, thawing their misunderstandings and unfamiliarity from decades of separation ... They have rediscovered the feeling of being a family again … ”
She continues to make similar statements and use immensely trite prose to narrate the story such as the following: “There are many things that are impossible to imagine before coming — such as when a cloud drifts over and passes directly over your head, and the whole becomes still and calm. When you ride in the forest, all the varieties of trees, they are yours. When you ride by the ocean, that ever-changing blue, is all yours.”
The authenticity of the film’s characters gets dicey, as their dialogue and interview responses were so ridiculously sappy and cliche — optimistic in an almost disconcerting way — that it’s hard to believe these are natural responses elicited from real human beings.
Here are some examples: “This is real beauty. During this visit to Taiwan, I truly experienced health, simplicity and nature. To me, I really deeply felt that [Taiwan] has completely elevated my sense of beauty.”
After visiting a police station, one character gushes in praise: “I feel that Taiwanese public institutions — especially the police — I can feel that from looking at their backs, their faces, they have this one unwavering belief coming from their hearts: serve the people.’”
And this barrage of positivity never lets up until the very end.
These angel investors could have been cool people, given that they were willing to leave their glitzy lifestyle and hop on a bicycle. But, whether it was the editing or that the interviews were really scripted, we only see the singular, bright and ultra-optimistic side of them. Thus, you never get to really know any of them — or even tell them apart. The movie, into the latter half, continues to introduce the bikers — but all efforts were futile by then.
Some “drama” does happen, such as people getting hurt, crashing or tackling a tricky slope — but everything is quickly solved through the strong bonds of friendship and compassion and everyone is on their merry way again.
All of this sappiness sort of “climaxes” at the end — we’re not going to spoil it for you — but you probably won’t care even if you’ve even made it that far. It is puzzling why the film is shown in Taiwan. It would probably make sense in China, but if you have spent any time in Taiwan, you will already know more than what this film is showing.
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