In English: Seddick Ballet
[/quote]
I thought it was “see dick, bail,” which makes sense if you think about it. 
So far we know the movie title is hard to pronounce and that its a long ass movie. And that the director’s got a story in getting it made. Is it all a good yarn is what id like to know? Well made?
Will be something if it wins an international following, but most likely like Cape No. 7 will just be a “taiwan (and maybe a few SE nations) only” hit.
For those that have seen it, is this review pretty accurate?
Just tried to see the film in Kaohsiung last night and was extremely upset that there wasn’t any subs in English. Its really too bad. I mean, this is Taiwan’s current international claim to fame- its been widely accepted in the international scene to such a degree that one might take a moment and say “wow, it looks like Taiwan is stepping up… Bravo!” But then you realize that this “international” movie isn’t playing in anything but traditional Chinese in the theaters of Taiwan. And they probably wouldn’t understand what “bravo” means, anyway.
The message the film provides to me: Everybody in Taiwan understands traditional Chinese. If you don’t understand traditional Chinese, your interest in our history doesn’t count and we don’t want your money. Besides, its not like anybody in Taiwan speaks English, right?
Stupid stuff.
WEll one must remember that ALL movies in taiwan are shown in its Original Language and with chinese subs. And in this case, the original language is Seedig and Japanese. The subs are only in mandarin as usual. Has there ever been english subs on any movies in Taiwan?
Still they certainly should show the version shown in venice with the english subs and advertise it as such so those of us (if i was in taiwan, id be in the same boat, not understanding seedig or japanese and not reading chinese subs) to be able to see the movie.
What do you mean by “traditional Chinese”? Do you mean the subtitles are in traditional Chinese characters, or do you mean they’re displayed in Classical Chinese?
http://www.facebook.com/groups/168914639854132/
Here is a link that is trying to bring the international version to Taiwan for all non-character readers and non-Seediq speakers. The more people that join the group the better the chance that we’ll get the chance to enjoy it on the big screen:)
Yes, sometimes at Warner (or whatever it’s called now); you have to check before buying the ticket, though. But the pattern you describe is the norm AFAIK.
I saw both parts in Kaohsiung this week and it was amazing! Although I felt the first part was better than the second part.
I was only able to read about 50% of the Chinese subtitles but I don’t think it affected my understanding of the movie too much. I read about the incident beforehand and the basic synopsis so I was able to follow along. And of course I got my friends to explain whatever I missed.
There’s a lot of great action scenes so you don’t have to spend too much time reading the subtitles or wondering what you missed.
I loved how authentic everything felt and the acting of the lead characters were very powerful. Though it’s funny because the movie ads seem to to show the character when he’s younger, but it’s the older version of him that gets the most screen time.
Hopefully they get the English subtitles worked out because I would definitely watch it again to see what I missed 
JOhn Woo is the exec producer so action scenes should definitely be expected ! And many reviews have praised the action scenes are the reason to see this movie in a real “avatar like” setting.
What do you mean by “traditional Chinese”? Do you mean the subtitles are in traditional Chinese characters, or do you mean they’re displayed in Classical Chinese?[/quote]
I mean they’re displayed in “traditional Chinese”, as I said. That’s how they write in Taiwan, and nowhere else in the world as I know in contemporary application. I’m not talking Zhou dynasty stuff- that was a quite a few years before the Japanese invasion, Chris.
[quote=“sean”]http://www.facebook.com/groups/168914639854132/
Here is a link that is trying to bring the international version to Taiwan for all non-character readers and non-Seediq speakers. The more people that join the group the better the chance that we’ll get the chance to enjoy it on the big screen:)[/quote]
I heard from a Taiwanese friend that this 2 hour version was shown in Kaohsiung during the first week of its release in Taiwan. Ticket prices varied from 500-1200 nt, but it was one showing only. I haven’t verified this so its only hearsay, but I know if I were trying to sell tickets to two movies instead of one (helllooooo Harry Potter), I’d make sure the public could never see the short version again if it were possible. Selling two tickets instead of one doubles the profits- I never took a math class in college, but it makes sense to me.
…bastards.
youtube.com/watch?v=UI7H-pj8 … re=related
Id see this movie just for Vivian. She tells about the movie here (if you understand mando).
The movie explained:
youtube.com/watch?v=XzQgaXi4 … ure=relmfu
The director said " it is because of Seedig Bale that there was a CApe no 7". Cape no 7 was a movie made on a limited budget hoping for commercial success in order to finance Seedig Bale. The huge success of Cape No. 7 allowed the making of Seedig, Taiwan’s most expensive film to date, with an expenditure of close to 700 million NT dollars.
Saw this last night (the first part) on the insistence of S.O. I generally don’t like ‘war movies’ but I’m interested in the history of Taiwan, so thought it would be worth seeing. My review below, FWIW … bearing in mind that my reading ability (Chinese subtitles only) is so slow that I generally got only the first half of each caption; I got the sense of it but not the detail.
Firstly, it’s a very, very depressing movie. Like most countries, Taiwan rewrites its history to show itself in the best possible light, but this movie is, as far as I can tell, warts-and-all accurate: neither the Japanese nor the aboriginals come out looking good. The Japanese are not presented as overtly cruel but simply as fallible humans with far too high an opinion of themselves, out to ‘civilise’ the natives. The aboriginals come across as a bunch of basically ordinary guys who spend far too much time squabbling among themselves and have an unhealthy obsession with collecting heads. The tragedy is that both cultures are more similar than they imagine, and the result is entirely predictable when they clash, which is why it’s depressing (and strangely tedious: you know exactly what’s going to happen from one moment to the next because the same drama has been played out over and over again since the dawn of time).
Although the movie is ostensibly about heroism, the fact that the aboriginals do not have any apparent honour code to regulate their killing would baffle most western viewers: they have no problem shooting people in the back, while defenseless, while massively outnumbered, or while running away; in fact the climax of this first instalment is a general bloodbath, precipitated by a low-ranking Japanese troublemaker who threatens to have the tribe annihilated in revenge for a beating. The Aboriginals stage a hit-them-before-they-hit-us surprise attack on a Japanese social occasion, during which civilians are slaughtered, women and children included. Many would consider this the exact opposite of heroism. Such behaviour was, in fact, why Allied forces held Japanese forces in such contempt during WW2. That the director presents this event honestly must have taken some courage. He doesn’t appear to have any point to make, but simply presents history as it was - or as best as he can figure out, how it was. One also can’t help thinking that if the aboriginals had got their act together instead of indulging in theatrical heroics for the benefit of the ancestors, they might have actually kicked the Japanese out: consider countries like Colombia and Sri Lanka, where a couple of thousand men using guerilla tactics brought (their own) government to its knees, or Vietnam, where a ragtag bunch of peasants kicked out the most well-funded army on the planet. Or, as Mauna tells his tribe in no uncertain terms, if they would just get their heads around the reality of the situation, a negotiated peace might be better than guaranteed extinction.
That’s just my own curmudgeonly perspective. The acting is impressive and the actors highly personable, considering many of them are amateurs. The special effects are not up to Hollywood standards, but that doesn’t detract from the narrative, which never loses momentum. The violence has been self-censored almost to the point where one loses any sense of the vileness of war … but not quite. It’s an impressive achievement considering the low (by American standards) budget. My final impression, at the end of the movie, was “why did I watch that?”. The take-home message, after a couple of hours, is that people are not very nice to each other. The end. Well, I knew that already.
WTF…
Was just reading this thread while waiting for the movie to start, quickly went to the counter to double check and…no English subs.
Weird, Jump Ashin did have English subs.
anyone know if currently there are any theaters playing Seediq Bale with English titles already? i saw it on Friday day but it only had Chinese subtitles. fine for me, but two of my buds would need English to better understand the story…
[quote=“finley”]
Firstly, it’s a very, very depressing movie. Like most countries, Taiwan rewrites its history to show itself in the best possible light, but this movie is, as far as I can tell, warts-and-all accurate: neither the Japanese nor the aboriginals come out looking good.[/quote]
Sounds good.
A war movie, eh.
Heck I got half a mind not to wait for the DVD now.
No one kicked the Japanese out.
Jays, I can’t wait.
With out the details chances are you were probably pretty lost, perhaps that’s why you felt this was a depressing movie. Did you get teary eye at all watching Seediq Bale? I was quite moved by many scenes and got teary eyes.
[quote]
Firstly, it’s a very, very depressing movie. Like most countries, Taiwan rewrites its history to show itself in the best possible light, but this movie is, as far as I can tell, warts-and-all accurate: neither the Japanese nor the aboriginals come out looking good. The Japanese are not presented as overtly cruel but simply as fallible humans with far too high an opinion of themselves, out to ‘civilise’ the natives. The aboriginals come across as a bunch of basically ordinary guys who spend far too much time squabbling among themselves and have an unhealthy obsession with collecting heads. The tragedy is that both cultures are more similar than they imagine, and the result is entirely predictable when they clash, which is why it’s depressing (and strangely tedious: you know exactly what’s going to happen from one moment to the next because the same drama has been played out over and over again since the dawn of time).[/quote]
I beg to differ, the aboriginals came out looking great. This film does a wonderful job of telling the world their way of life, how it was taken away from them, and how they fought to gain it back… I thought they did a great job and did not over or under play the Japanese occupation. Obviously there are always the good and the bad Japanese people and both were represented in the film. Here you mention depressing again? Did you know that Taiwanese (not just the aboriginals) people as a whole have a love/hate relationship with the 50 year history of the Japanese occupation?
Did you catch the part in the movie where Mona Rudo said he went to Japan and saw how advanced they were(so he knows they have no chance against them), and how they were well educated and well mannered. He said the policemen in Japan were so friendly and nice. But the Japanese policemen in Taiwan were not so nice…
[quote]
Although the movie is ostensibly about heroism, the fact that the aboriginals do not have any apparent honour code to regulate their killing would baffle most western viewers: they have no problem shooting people in the back, while defenseless, while massively outnumbered, or while running away; in fact the climax of this first instalment is a general bloodbath, precipitated by a low-ranking Japanese troublemaker who threatens to have the tribe annihilated in revenge for a beating. The Aboriginals stage a hit-them-before-they-hit-us surprise attack on a Japanese social occasion, during which civilians are slaughtered, women and children included. Many would consider this the exact opposite of heroism. Such behaviour was, in fact, why Allied forces held Japanese forces in such contempt during WW2. That the director presents this event honestly must have taken some courage. He doesn’t appear to have any point to make, but simply presents history as it was - or as best as he can figure out, how it was. One also can’t help thinking that if the aboriginals had got their act together instead of indulging in theatrical heroics for the benefit of the ancestors, they might have actually kicked the Japanese out: consider countries like Colombia and Sri Lanka, where a couple of thousand men using guerilla tactics brought (their own) government to its knees, or Vietnam, where a ragtag bunch of peasants kicked out the most well-funded army on the planet. Or, as Mauna tells his tribe in no uncertain terms, if they would just get their heads around the reality of the situation, a negotiated peace might be better than guaranteed extinction.[/quote]
You’d have to go a little deeper than simple Western “gentleman honor code” to understand it. The opening scene for example, was the hunting. In their culture, different tribes have their own hunting areas and it is claimed/marked. If you cross the line then you will be killed. That was what happened in the scene.
Guerrilla tactics in this movie’s time period (~1890-1930) is not that realistic. Firearms would’ve been extremely hard to come by for the locals and I don’t think guerrilla warfare with arrows and machetes is gonna work that good.
[quote]
That’s just my own curmudgeonly perspective. The acting is impressive and the actors highly personable, considering many of them are amateurs. The special effects are not up to Hollywood standards, but that doesn’t detract from the narrative, which never loses momentum. The violence has been self-censored almost to the point where one loses any sense of the vileness of war … but not quite. It’s an impressive achievement considering the low (by American standards) budget. My final impression, at the end of the movie, was “why did I watch that?”. The take-home message, after a couple of hours, is that people are not very nice to each other. The end. Well, I knew that already.[/quote]
I agree about the acting… excellent all around. I thought the efx were quite good though, maybe not cutting edge but certainly good enough to be called world class. This is one of the best film I have ever seen in a theater… I plan to do a detailed review of my own and I will share that here later.
[quote=“ekphrastic”][quote=“sean”]http://www.facebook.com/groups/168914639854132/
Here is a link that is trying to bring the international version to Taiwan for all non-character readers and non-Seediq speakers. The more people that join the group the better the chance that we’ll get the chance to enjoy it on the big screen:)[/quote]
I heard from a Taiwanese friend that this 2 hour version was shown in Kaohsiung during the first week of its release in Taiwan. Ticket prices varied from 500-1200 nt, but it was one showing only. I haven’t verified this so its only hearsay, but I know if I were trying to sell tickets to two movies instead of one (helllooooo Harry Potter), I’d make sure the public could never see the short version again if it were possible. Selling two tickets instead of one doubles the profits- I never took a math class in college, but it makes sense to me.
…bastards.[/quote]
They had a special screning at the Kaohsiung Stadium -the solar energy panels one- which was massive, so I think this was the one your friend referred to. People lined up a day ahead to get a good seat. And according to teh news, it was not teh short version…
Here: focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_ … 1109120010
[quote]The large-scale screening in Kaohsiung Arena, which drew 10,000 people to watch the 4.5-hour movie together on the Mid-Autumn Festival, was the first of its kind in Taiwan.
The film was shown on a 22.5-meter-wide screen that cost NT$6 million (US$204,200).
[/quote]
the special 10,000 people showing showed the full feature director’s cut (not the reduced 2 hour version shown in Venice) in one afternoon, with 30 minute break between part 1 and 2. as most of you know the regular cinema will start showing part 2 on 9/30/2011.
Oh, I definitely missed the details, which in some places was frustrating. Mostly though, I think the details would have been irrelevant: this bunch of people invades some other bunch of people and they both get pissed off at each other. Possibly we’ve heard that story before?
I thought it completely skated over their way of life; very superficial. I learned next to nothing about their daily way of life and customs. But again, maybe that’s because I missed the details.
Yes, the Japanese were presented well, as just ordinary people, good and bad.
Sure … and some of the reasons for that are shown, although the Han population (now the majority) had a rather different relationship with the Japanese.
Mona (the older version of him) was the only character I felt any sympathy for, because he was a lot more worldly-wise than his compatriots (I suppose because he’d seen a few things) and was stymied by their provincial thinking. He was aware that there was a compromise position - not necessarily a satisfactory one, but possibly one that would preserve both lives and culture - but wasn’t able to communicate that to anyone else (Japanese or Aboriginals).
My issue was that there wasn’t any “deeper”. Murder is murder, all over the world; and cultures that do not regulate killing adequately are often exterminated themselves, because they frighten others. Sure, I understood about the opening scene and territorial protection - as you say, that was more a ‘legal structure’; everyone concerned was aware of the rules. One thing that wasn’t mentioned is that some of Taiwan’s Aboriginal tribespeople went on head-hunting expeditions as a rite of passage (a common tradition all over the world - their version of the Darwin Awards). Not sure if the Seediq indulged in such things, but their skull collection hints that they did, without actually saying so.
Anyway, I was referring more to their interactions with the Japanese. I used the word “depressing” because there was complete mutual incomprehension, and little attempt from either Japanese or Aboriginals at rapprochement (except from Mona). The final scene was a direct result of a simple cultural misunderstanding.
Oh, sure … I was just wondering out loud “what if”; (cross)bows are today considered the ideal stealth weapon, so I don’t think that would have been a problem. Actually, one thing that baffled me was the (apparent) ready availability of guns and ammunition earlier in the film. I assume they came from Han traders, but it wasn’t obvious what the Aboriginals were trading in return. In fact the entire Han race were just cardboard cutouts - there was no real interaction with them, although there must have been a lot of them around.