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In honor of the year of the snake,i'm reviewing this 2 part film that was again a recommendation of a close friend from Taiwan. As I had said in conversations with him before,we are all very much the same as people but spend our lives looking for things that separate us.This film begins in 1895 with a quick lesson of how Japan gained control of the island of Taiwan.To most americans that is where the government of China fled after WW11 after losing a revolution led by Mao.However Taiwan had a population of natives not unlike our own plains indians.Here's we're we have our similarities and separations as peoples.The Taiwanese lived in forests and our indians in rolling planes.Headhunters vs scalpers and both fought their own peoples over hunting grounds allowing for long standing feuds that prevented uniting and allowing the Japanese and White men to divide and conquer.Sadly this film is extremely violent but based on a rebellion by the Seedig peoples against the Japanese in 1930 called the Wushe Incident.Released in 2011 in 2 parts that total 276 minutes it is very long and with subtitles thus the 1 star off.
Noble savages is a term that by nature is oxi-moronic but like our own native indians these headhunters were treated badly and forced to rebel and suffer a even harsher fate than our indians did.Its a tough film to watch,but if you are interested in China,its a historical must like wounded knee was in american history.Strongly recommend for those with strong stomachs. Trailer URL follows the pix and a IMDB summary below.Another John Woo production.Think he's world class by now??Remember Red Cliff??
During the Japanese rule of Taiwan, the Seediq were forced to lose their own culture and give up their faith. Men were subject to harsh labor and kept from traditional hunting; whereas women had to serve the Japanese policemen and their families by doing the household work and giving up their traditional weaving work. Above all, they were forbidden to tattoo their faces. And these tattoos were seen as the Seediq's traditional belief to transform themselves into Seediq Bale ("true humans"). Mona Rudao, the protagonist, witnessed the repression by the Japanese over a period of 30 years. Sometime between autumn and winter 1930, when the slave labor is at its harshest, a young Seediq couple are married and a joyful party is thrown. At the same time, a newly appointed Japanese policeman goes on his inspection tour to this tribe. Mona Rudao's first son, Tado Mona, offers wine to the policeman with gusto, but is in return beaten up because his hands were considered not clean enough. With ... Written by Anonymous
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