There’s nothing glamorous about the tedious and often dangerous work of wildlife scientists, especially those who have to regularly trudge up 3,000m high peaks to observe Taiwan’s endangered hynobius salamanders. Remnants from the Ice Age, the five endemic species live in different mountains and habitats, making the task even more arduous.
For every amazing discovery, they endure countless empty-handed expeditions, and even though the oddly titled documentary Good Morni MIT (山椒魚來了) mostly focuses on their successes, the storyline also gets a bit repetitive and drawn out at points.
It doesn’t matter, however, as the rare, close-up footage of the ridiculously charming salamanders slowly crawling through the terrain with their little limbs and catching bugs with their sticky tongues are simply captivating. Obviously it took years of painstaking camera work to follow these researchers around to capture these perfectly-timed moments, and we even get to see all the details of the salamanders’ life cycle, from egg to maturity. It requires returning to the same spot every week for several months to capture this whole process, and the scenery of the surrounding habitat is also breathtaking.
Photo courtesy of Barley Productions
Director Arthur Mai (麥覺明) is definitely well-suited for the job, having conquered some of the world’s highest peaks and once attempted to scale Everest. In addition to his feature films on fireflies and Formosan black bears, he’s best known for producing the long-running nature program Made in Taiwan (MIT台灣誌) for the past two decades. The movie’s special effects and design elements do have more of a television show feel to them, and the English translations are wonky (Siberia is spelled Cyberia, for instance), but the wildlife and landscape camerawork is absolutely top notch.
The film is also an ode to the intrepid researchers, in particular National Taiwan Normal University’s Lai Chun-hsiang (賴俊祥), who lost his life during an 2016 expedition to Qilai North Peak (奇萊北峰). Mai was with them on that expedition, and the footage is harrowing and heartbreaking.
The audience also gets an in-depth look at the work the scientists do as they capture, tag and take samples of the creatures, and learn about the many challenges they face. There are a few memorable characters that provide comedic moments, including hynobius research pioneer Lue Kuang-yang (呂光洋), who in his late 60s still can’t stop himself from overturning every stone to see if there’s a salamander underneath. The unassuming Lue is a giant in the field, having identified numerous endemic reptiles and amphibians since the 1970s. There’s even a lizard named after him.
Photo courtesy of Barley Productions
Quite a few people are featured throughout the film, and fortunately Mai has done the audience the favor of showing their name and position every time they come on screen. However, many end up saying the same thing, and the film could have been edited to avoid this repetition.
Ultimately, Mai hopes to attract more public attention to these cold-loving critters whose habitat is shrinking due to global warming and human development. Like his previous (also oddly titled) feature Formosa BB is Coming (黑熊來了), which was narrated by Cheer Chen (陳綺貞), he’s able to again enlist the star power of Taiwan’s most iconic singer-songwriters.
This time, rock legend Wubai (伍佰) provides the narration with his instantly recognizable voice, and Mai’s old pal, the folk crooner Bobby Chen (陳昇), returns to pen the theme song. Mai says in an interview that like the salamanders, the musicians are also rare breeds unique to Taiwan. It’s a bit strange at first to hear Wubai channeling the spirit of such a tiny, cute amphibians, but he sounds wholesome and heartfelt.
Photo courtesy of Barley Productions
Anyone who likes animals or cares about conservation will surely enjoy this film. And sometimes the public might feel that these researchers are blessed to be able to spend most of their time in beautiful nature looking at interesting creatures, but it’s really much more than that.
Photo courtesy of Barley Productions
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