asia_extreme

One of Taiwan's biggest ever films today, probably the most expensive ever made and looks set to be the highest earning to date. The story of Seediq Bale, based on the Wushe Incident is split into two segments, the first being entitled The Sun Flag (tai-yang qi) and the second, The Rainbow Bridge (cai-hong qiao). Seediq Bale is the best looking Taiwanese production to date, it seems on par with the majority of action films coming straight out of Hollywood. The battle scenes are impressive, they're fast paced with a lot of of excitement and thrills, there's explosions, blood splatters and much like you'd expect from headhunters, there's a few heads rolling.

Story: The story moves quickly despite the movie being close to 2 and a half hours long. There is a small bit of background and lead up to the Japanese arriving but not a great deal. When the Japanese arrive it also doesn't seem that much happens in the story, it doesn't give you complex characters or anything you must grasp or understand. It's a simple story but flows well and entertains.

Characters: Character building and general development is a problem in this movie, although it is entertaining with no boredom from start to finish it doesn't have much depth to it. You must take the characters on face value as you don't really get a sense of who they are. There is one character who can be classed as the lead but you even don't get to know who he is. Throughout the movie you're introduced to numerous characters, both on the aboriginal side and the Japanese side, yet you don't get to know more than the basics of who they are.

Directing: Te-Sheng Wei has previous had a bit hit in Taiwan with Cape No.7 which guaranteed him the funding for this movie. But still his style is not flawless, at times he comes across as still being an amateur with some very strange shots and some even more bizarre cuts. More than one scene had him building up, suspense and emotion was all there and then he suddenly cuts to something completely different. It kills the feeling but also provides a kind of shock.

Also its probably worth having a little background on headhunting traditions before watching this film, without understanding about their culture at times you might just find yourself rooting for the Japanese side.

Overall: I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, sure it could've been better but at the same time it could've been a lot worse. It's receiving a lot of praise in Taiwan with this movie smashing records and the follow up looking set to break even more. One things for sure, I'll be booking my tickets for the second instalment.

After seeing an advertisement prior to the airing I felt quite intrigued by what I thought I was going to see.... but unfortunately it all fell flat.

A freak show run by, a few individuals who are classed as "able bodied people" do nothing more than exploit the people with the real disabilities. The freak show in itself is a farce, it's far from a freak show. It's basically a hillbillies travelling show, a group of people who are very little talent but want a stage to play on. They use the "freaks" as a way of marketing their poorly crafted show and to some extent it works.

Throughout the whole movie you can't help but dislike the creators of this show, they come across as being nothing more than complete losers who want to live life in such a carefree way they have no regard for anyone else.

Not only is the show and organisation of the freak show a complete pile of, you know what, the documentary in itself is also a poorly made piece. The creator seems to have very little direction with this, at no point to you really get a sense of what he's trying to get out of it. Usually a documentary has an ultimate goal, whether it be getting a message across or showing the audience something in a new light, whatever it is generally there is always a motive in making a documentary. The Last American Freakshow totally fails, in the creators introduction there is no mention of a goal and even in the end there is no kind of a conclusion. Pretty much all he shows is a group of people who have nothing else to do in life other than tour around being layabout bums.

Overall this was a very disappointing documentary, I was expecting something which would open my eyes, or at least be interesting but unfortunately after about the first 15minutes I was already looking at my watch. It was tempting when the commercials came on to switch channels and not return but I wasn't sensible enough to do that. If you missed this when it was aired on TV count yourself lucky as it's really nothing more than a waste of film.

This movie really captures the type of local people who live in the Southern parts of Taiwan. The true local people, the type who have never left their hometown and the type who have never adapted with the times. For a Taiwanese person this movie will be hilarious, it truly shows the older generation characters are being the way most of elders are. The actual foul language in Taiwanese dialect can never really be understood unless you realise how bad these words are, and the true meaning of said words and phrases.

Some would say this is a romantic comedy, for me it was more of just a comedy. The romance seemed little and not massively important to the story. For me the story was about a group of people coming together to create a band which no one would've ever thought possible, not the locals and not even the band members themselves. The romance was a side part, it wasn't enough to make you feel sorry for the characters or enough to make you want them to be together.

In Taiwan this is the biggest movie ever, well it certainly seems that way. The Taiwanese rant and rave about it like its the greatest thing since sliced bread, there might be many reasons why... Because it truly captures some of the Taiwanese elders perfectly, or perhaps because Taiwan makes very few movies. And the other only big movies made in Taiwan are of a sexual nature (Tsai Ming-liang).

Overall I did enjoy this movie but I feel without my knowledge of Mandarin language and Taiwanese Dialect, along with my experience of living in Taiwan for a number of years I wouldn't have enjoyed this movie as much. Without a true understanding of the setting there's no way I would've found even half of the jokes amusing.

I think if you know about Taiwanese culture, or if you've visited Taiwan you'll enjoy this movie. But if you don't have such knowledge or experiences you might want to pass this movie by as it won't be enough to entertain you for 2+hours.