Lost in Translation II

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of seeing a screening of "Seediq Bale" - a two parter Taiwanese film documenting the historical Japanese occupation of Taiwan waaaaaay back before WWII... it is the Mountain Aboriginals plight - in preserving their ancestry, regaining their territory and PRIDE back from the Japanese.

Part one covers the origins of Mona Rudao, the taiwanese Hero and the main character of the film. We see him grow up, become a man... fight for his tribes rights and freedom, only to be captured and succumbed to the Japanese... and fast forward to the 1930's - he is now an older man co-existing with the Japanese but deep down brooding(and brewing) for their freedom. The two hour movie culminated in the "oh-so-very-bloody" revolt against the Japanese.... I had to turn away or close my eyes in certain parts but it is not, I assure you, bloodshed just for the heck of getting reactions from the audience... all was done true to the tribesmen's historical ways of dealing with their enemies...

Been looking forward to this movie for quite some time.... the PREVIEWS looked AMAZING and EMOTIONAL - and BEST OF ALL, they had ENGLISH Subtitles... Alas, there was none when we went to see the film.... even at the Warner Viewshow, which is frequented by foreigners so one would think they would show the ones with English Subtitles... The movie was in both Japanese and the Aboriginal Dialect... and the subtitles were in Chinese... I was OUT OF LUCK!!!

But not all was lost... the story was very UNIVERSAL... the EMOTIONS quite apparant, thanks to the wonderful actors... and I did get a little bit of Translation help in the most PIVOTAL parts.... so i still got the JIST of the whole thing - was caught in the beautiful cinematography, great landscapes used for settings, and the emotion of the whole thing... Now I cannot wait for

PART 2 of the film...

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