[quote=“Shearersheed”][quote=“tango42”]Saw it, not impressed. Too many long fighting scenes to be a quality movie. And the story did not flow well. Kind of left questions going from scene to scene. The soundtrack was nice, but dragged out too long to be effective. And the kids killing their teacher wasn’t really my cup of tea. If the indigenous people are as brutal as reflected in the movie, then they were just as bad as the japanese during the war years. I don’t think it was accurate in that portrayal.
And everyone wearing matching clothes with cute little scarves around their neck?! Come on!!!
It is essentially another slash, fight, kill, blood and guts movie with no real main point other than hunting grounds are important for us and our ancestors, which I can’t really come with a metaphor to which it could be directly connected other than heaven and afterlife but even then there is no joy or point.
Cape #7, Help Me Eros, were both more intriguing movies.[/quote]
My girlfriend has seen it and she recommends me to watch it. She said that at school in Taiwan, they study about the aboriginal culture and what the Japanese have done to the locals while taking over the island. Though she doesn’t like war movies because she is quite scared of all the killing, she really enjoyed the film. For her, it’s a well-made, very touching film and it truly reflects the history of Taiwan. Everything makes sense for her since she has learned or read about the history. She suggested you guys who intend to watch Seediq Bale to google and read a bit about ‘‘headhunting’’, ‘‘Taiwanese Aborigines’’, “Wushe Incident”, ‘‘history of Taiwan’’ and the ‘‘Japanese Colonial Era’’, or you can even ask a Taiwanese friend of yours to explain about the history, so you can have some background knowledge before watching the film; otherwise it might just turn out to be another ‘‘barbarian’’ film, which is full of cruel killing. My personal opinion is when you watch this film, try to enjoy it from a neutral perspective of view. After all, what makes the world colorful and interesting is the diversity, isn’t it? Enjoy the film folks![/quote]
I agree. I think the movie, while well-made, does expect you to know the history to a certain degree in order to fully appreciate it. Just do a quick Wikipedia search on the relevant topics and you should be good to go 
Also, the sentiment expressed by the OP is exactly how the Japanese saw the aborigines when they first took over Taiwan (or when European settlers first discovered the Americas). Cultures are inherently different; you can’t simply judge one culture using another’s standards. Even if we don’t understand Seediq Bale culture, at least try to put yourself in their shoes and try to sympathize with their plight. If anyone has ever been a minority race or oppressed by a foreign culture, you would be able to relate to the film a lot more. If you haven’t, well, think of it this way: foreigners are a very small minority in Taiwan. But despite all the anti-foreigner crap you’ve put up with over the years, people are generally nice to you, respectful of your culture, and they certainly don’t routinely beat you or your children simply for being a foreigner. If they did, maybe you’d want to kill a school teacher too after a few years 
All in all, I’d say it’s a great film that’s definitely worth watching. I had the misfortune of being surprised by the lack of English subtitles, but I was able to understand most of the film just based on the visual and audio depictions alone. I’m still going to see it again with English subtitles when it becomes available though.
