The story of overcoming hardship and completing a cycling trip around the country has been told too many times in Taiwanese cinema by now. So when there is an angle as unique as a group of children from Yunlin County Xinyi Orphanage (信義育幼院) — some as young as eight years old — attempting the feat, one would think director Paul Chu (周抱樸) would make full use of the topic at hand to make a film that’s different from the usual narrative.
The premise is clear throughout the movie, as it opens with the orphanage director talking about how they are preparing the children to return “home.” Many of them are living there because their parents are unable to take care of them, and it is explained that this 1,200km, two-week ride — which had been taking place for several years when the bulk of the film was shot in 2011 — is supposed to provide these students a chance to prove that they are worthy to return to their families one day as well as giving them strength to create their own future.
There are scenes of life in the orphanage, where the children are hand-washing their clothes, arguing about using the dehydrator and participating in an exercise where they plan out their future. But the bulk of the film unfolds like a standard cycling movie, with the beautiful scenery, touching moments and interaction, children falling and getting hurt, getting up again and refusing to ride in the van, all the way to the final celebration at the finish line.
Photo courtesy of atmovies.com
Overall, the production is a bit too glossy, intentionally touching and “official,” with the adults often doing the talking about how the children feel and why they are so determined to finish the trip instead of finding ways to show it. It seems that the focus is more on making it heartwarming and inspiring instead of telling a true story. Aside from what the adults say, we don’t really see how these bicycle trips have really changed the children, despite the film revisiting them three years later.
It should be acknowledged that it is hard to approach such a delicate subject matter, especially when dealing with children who have a troubled past. This is a tough group of kids who are making the best of their situation — a year later they managed to ride 3,200km from Beijing to Xiamen — and it is tricky to not go overboard with the negativity, or to get the children to consistently express their feelings as well.
It’s not that the film is poorly put together. The theme is consistent and it’s obvious that there’s a lot of work put into it. There just seems to be many missed opportunities. Throughout the trip, we see several heart-wrenching moments the director could have focused and expanded on.
Photos courtesy of atmovies.com
One example is the troubled child who purposely crashes so he could stop riding, and later tries to sneak away when they are near his original home. Another child wistfully admits that he’s been waiting to pass through Chiayi because that’s where his mother lives. But most of the film does not dig deeper (it does briefly at the very end), and we only get a cursory look at what life is really like for these children.
At one point, we find out through a brief conversation that one of the adult volunteers quit her job to help these children with their journey. But we don’t hear from that person again. It’s moments like these that make you wish that there was less cycling and more character building.
Chu has said that he was trying to find a way to make a heavy subject more entertaining and accessible by keeping a positive tone, but the sadness and darker aspects are not hard to detect underneath the laughter, and in the end, it leaves us wanting just a bit more.
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