“Don’t take being remembered for granted,” director Hsu Tzu-jou (徐紫柔) narrates in one scene of her documentary, Zombie Film with Grandpas and Grandmas (邀阿公阿嬤拍B級殭屍片). The wacky title and hilarious antics of the mostly elderly actors cannot hide the heartbreaking fact that the star of the show, Hsu’s then 94-year-old (now 96) grandmother, suffers from dementia.
Filmed over the course of four years, the documentary follows Hsu’s efforts to make a B-movie about Power Rangers saving the world from memory-devouring zombies, featuring her family members and other amateur thespians she recruited with great effort from their Taoyuan neighborhood and beyond. Playing the Pink Power Ranger in full costume with gusto, granny Chung Ching-mei (鐘景妹) is a natural showwoman, but she can barely remember one line at a time and often has no idea what she is doing.
Diagnosed with mild dementia 10 years prior to filming, Chung still largely retains her long-term memory but forgets most of the things that happened in the present. But she remains positive and cheerful for the most part, and with timely medical treatment and attentive care by her family, she’s still able to live a happy life. Part of Hsu’s motivation for making the documentary is to promote awareness of dementia, which affects 460,000 people in Taiwan, and show that with early detection and proper management, the condition is manageable.
Photo courtesy of Sky Digital Entertainment
Hsu first began filming amusing skits featuring Chung and other relatives donning various costumes just to keep her grandmother’s mind active. The videos unexpectedly became a social media sensation, leading to many public performance opportunities. But since Chung was unable to remember the lines and actions for an entire show, Hsu decided to feature her in a movie instead, where she could complete one scene at a time. Titled Memory Rangers (記憶戰士), the movie conveys Hsu’s idea that every young person can serve as a “memory warrior” to slow the deterioration of the faltering brains of their elderly loved ones.
What’s surprising is Hsu’s drive to execute this endeavor properly despite little experience and much uncertainty. She holds auditions, hires a film crew with makeup artists and tirelessly tries to get community members involved — one scene shows about 80 extras playing zombies who descend upon scenic sand dunes by the sea. Much of the comedic effect is provided by unintentionally funny and self-deprecating actors recruited from the 800-strong Taoyuan Golden Voice Singing Club (金嗓歌友會), a thriving senior social group boasting many hidden talents itching to strut their stuff.
Hsu successfully takes an otherwise grave and serious topic and puts an overwhelmingly positive spin on it. Aside from her gregarious family members who aren’t shy to poke fun at themselves and act ridiculous, Hsu managed to conscript just the right characters to make the whole thing an extremely entertaining affair. While one does not feel pity for Chung even as she struggles to recite a single sentence — especially since she doesn’t seem to mind herself — her condition still results in many tear-jerking moments.
Photo courtesy of Sky Digital Entertainment
The finished 20-minute movie can be found on the family’s YouTube channel, but the documentary doesn’t mention that — which was one of the main audience criticisms during Tuesday’s test screening. The videos weren’t easy to search for either, accessible in three segments at: www.youtube.com/@user-gw9pt2mn2x.
Photo courtesy of Sky Digital Entertainment
Photo courtesy of Sky Digital Entertainment
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