Taiwan's Glory

Wei Te-Sheng

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導演．巴萊 by 魏德聖

 

賽德克．巴萊 (電影書封最新修訂版) by  魏德聖

Excerpts from Wikipedia.org

Wei Te-Sheng (魏德聖; b. August 16, 1969 in Yongkang City, Tainan County (now part of Tainan City), Taiwan) is the director of Cape No. 7, the 2nd top-selling film in Taiwanese history.

 

Career

Wei’s film career began when he got a job in a small production house. Then he became an assistant in Edward Yang's film studio in 1995. When Yang was filming Mahjong (1996), he was promoted to assistant director from a grip assistant. From 1995 to 1998, he had shot shorts including "Face in the Evening" (1995), "Three Dialogues" (1996) and "Before Dawn" (1997), and all three films had won Golden Harvest Award for Film and Digital Video.

Moreover, his 1999 16 mm film "About July" won great reviews from film critics in Taiwan, and was honored with a Special Mention from the Alcan Dragons And Tigers Award For Young Cinema at the Vancouver International Film Festival. He was also the associate producer of Double Vision (2002), produced by Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia.

In 2004, he raised 2.5 million NT dollars by himself and shot the teaser of "Seediq Bale" in order to further raise 200 million dollars for the finance of shooting the complete film.

In 2011, Wei's new feature film Seediq Bale has been selected as one of the films in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival.

 

Filmography

Director

• Face in the Evening (1995)
• Three Dialogues (1996)
• Before Dawn (1997)
• About July (1999)
• Cape No. 7 (2007)
• Seediq Bale (2011)

Assistant Director

• Mahjong (1996)

 

 

魏德聖

魏德聖（1969年8月16日－），台灣電影導演，出生於台南縣永康鄉（今臺南市永康區）。遠東工專（現遠東科技大學）電機科畢。其於2003年拍攝以臺灣原住民抗日之霧社事件為背景的《賽德克·巴萊》試拍片初試啼聲，唯當時知名度不高，資金籌措失敗。稍後接受新聞局補助，於2008年上映之《海角七號》獲得台灣電影史上票房第2名，一舉成名。透過陳雅琳專訪節目中得知，魏德聖在偶然機緣下，翻閱到一本邱若龍著作《漫畫·巴萊》，促使魏德聖日後拍攝《賽德克·巴萊》的動力所在。

服役時，在軍中認識一位世新畢業的同袍，聽其終日談論電影。退伍後，因工作上沒有背景與經驗，無法直接獲得電影電視界的錄取。魏德聖在機緣下，翻閱到一篇刊登演員訓練班的廣告，因此前往報名，魏德聖就此開始入行。最初，魏德聖先進入一家小型傳播公司擔任電視節目助理，開始步入影像世界。1993年，金鰲勳籌拍軍教片《想飛──傲空神鷹》，魏德聖擔任該片場記，認識了楊德昌電影工作室人員，因而在工作結束後進入楊德昌電影工作室擔任助理。1995、96年間，日本導演林海象來台拍攝台、日合作片《海鬼燈》，魏德聖獲得機會出任該片製作助理，之後在楊德昌籌拍的新片《麻將》中，又於短期間從場務、助導而升任副導，龐大的工作壓力所伴隨而來的學習機會讓他獲益良多，也為他日後從事電影工作奠定了良好基礎。

紀錄片／短片

• 1995年－《夕顏》 錄影帶作品 導演
• 1996年－《對話三部》 16mm劇情片 導演
• 1997年－《黎明之前》 16mm劇情片 導演
• 1999年－《七月天》 (About July) 16mm劇情片 導演
• 2003年－《賽德克·巴萊》 五分鐘試拍片 策劃，導演，監製，劇本

劇情長片

• 1996年－《麻將》副導演
• 2002年－《雙瞳》策劃
• 2008年－《海角七號》策劃，導演，監製，劇本
• 2011年－《賽德克·巴萊》導演，劇本

劇本

• 1994年－《賣冰的兒子》
• 2000年－《賽德克·巴萊》
• 2003年－《火焚之軀──西拉雅》
• 2008年－《海角七號》

書籍

• 2002年－《小導演失業日記－黃金魚將撒母耳》
• 2011年－《導演．巴萊》

得獎

• 劇本《賣冰的兒子》獲得1994年臺灣新聞局「優良電影劇本獎」
• 短片《夕顏》獲得1995年第十八屆金穗獎「優等錄影帶」
• 短片《對話三部》獲得1996年第十九屆金穗獎「優等短片」
• 短片《黎明之前》獲得1997年第二十屆金穗獎「優等短片」，比利時「布魯塞爾影展」「優等短片」
• 短片《七月天》獲得1998年電影短片及紀錄長片輔導金補助
• 劇本「賽德克．巴萊（真正的人）」獲得2000年臺灣新聞局「優良電影劇本獎」
• 劇本「火焚之軀──西拉雅」獲得2003年臺灣新聞局「優良電影劇本獎」
• 電影《海角七號》獲得2006年新人組輔導金500萬元，臺灣「台北電影節」百萬首獎，日本「亞洲海洋電影展」最佳影片首獎，美國「路易威登夏威夷影展」劇情片類首獎
• 第45屆金馬獎年度台灣傑出電影工作者

評價反響: 魏德聖不喜談政治、討論政治，還沒前往威尼斯時，他常私下拜託記者，政治的問題少寫點，小到國名爭議，大到跟外交部斡旋。原來，魏導並非不懂政治，只是不想談罷了。《賽德克.巴萊》在威尼斯影展舉辦世界首映會，不愛講話的魏德聖，針對國名降格爭議，感性地說：「藝文的力量大過政治，且可擴及全世界。有些思想是管不住的，就讓它開花、綻放！」他還說，「我們做藝文的，是沒有線條的，誰在地上畫線，我會叫他把它擦掉！」

 

 

Cape No. 7

Official Website (video: trailer)

Cape No. 7 (海角七號) is a 2008 Taiwanese romance comedic music-drama film written and directed by Wei Te-Sheng, his first full-length motion picture. The film is in Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese with significant lines in Japanese. Before its commercial release, the film was world premiered on June 20, 2008 at the 2008 Taipei Film Festival as the opening film. The film later won 3 awards in this festival.

Prior to this film, the two leading actors Van Fan (范逸臣) and Chie Tanaka (田中千絵) only had minor acting experience while some of the supporting roles were filled by non-actors. Even without a strong promotional campaign, the film had become so popular in Taiwan that on November 1, 2008 it became the 2nd top grossing film in the country's cinematic history, behind Titanic. The film has grossed over US$13,804,531 since its release.

The film has won 15 awards to date, including 6 at the 2008 Golden Horse Awards. It was also Taiwan's entry to compete in the 81st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, although it did not secure a nomination.

Plot: In the 1940s near the end of the Japanese era of Taiwan, an unnamed teacher (Kousuke Atari) dispatched to the southernmost town of Hengchun falls in love with a local girl with the Japanese name Kojima Tomoko (Rachel Liang). After the Surrender of Japan, the teacher is forced to return home as Taiwan was placed under the administrative control of the Republic of China. On his trip home, he pens seven love letters to express his regret for leaving Kojima Tomoko, who originally planned to elope with him to Japan.

More than 60 years after the teacher left Kojima Tomoko, Aga (Van Fan) is introduced as a struggling young Hengchun-native rock band singer who could not find success in Taipei. After returning to his hometown, Aga's step father (Ju-Lung Ma), the Town Council Representative, arranged a position for him as a postman, replacing the aging Old Mao (Johnny C.J. Lin), on leave after a motorcycle accident broke his leg. One day, Aga comes across an undeliverable piece of mail that was supposed to be returned to the sender; the daughter of the now deceased Japanese teacher has decided to mail the unsent love letters to Taiwan after discovering them. Aga unlawfully keeps and opens the package to discover its contents, but the old Japanese-style address Cape No. 7, Kōshun District, Takao Prefecture can no longer be found.

Meantime a local resort hotel inside nearby Kenting National Park is organizing a beach concert featuring Japanese pop singer Kousuke Atari, but Aga's step father makes use of his official position to insist that the opening band be composed of locals. Tomoko (Chie Tanaka), an over-the-hill Mandarin-speaking Japanese fashion model dispatched to Hengchun, is assigned the difficult task of managing this hastily assembled band, led by Aga along with six other locals of rather particular backgrounds. After a frustrating trial period, Aga and Tomoko unexpectedly begin a relationship. With some assistance from hotel maid Mingchu (Shino Lin), who is revealed to be Kojima Tomoko's granddaughter, Tomoko helps Aga find the rightful recipient of the seven love letters. Tomoko then tells Aga that she plans on returning to Japan after the concert because of a job offer. After returning the seven love letters, a heartbroken but determined Aga returns to the beach resort and performs a highly successful concert with his local band alongside Kousuke Atari while Kojima Tomoko reads the letters.

Filming: The inspiration for Cape No. 7 came in July 2004 when director Wei read a report about a Yunlin postman who successfully delivered a piece of mail addressed in the old Japanese style - the sender was the former Japanese employer of the recipient. Wei decided to make a film based on this story, in the hopes of financing his long-awaited epic film Seediq Bale, which had problems securing financial interest.

By the end of 2006 Wei had finished Cape No. 7's script. He was subsequently awarded NT$ 5 million for winning the "Domestic Film Fund" from Taiwan's Government Information Office. Wei said he picked Hengchun as the film's setting due to its richness in contrasts: mountains along with beaches; the old towns near the modern resort hotels; the aging population with the young working in Taipei; the diversified demographics with Hoklo, Hakka, Mainlanders, Taiwanese aborigines, and international tourists; the weather variation between the tropical southern Taiwan and the snow-laden Japan. Wei believed that such a setting would provide the ideal backdrop for the "harmony in diversity" theme of Cape No. 7.

The movie was filmed between September and November 2007 in Hengchun and its neighboring Checheng and Manjhou Townships, located on the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County. The set for the 'Hotel Chateau' (where the concert is held and at which model Tomoko stays) was the real life Château Beach Resort at Kenting. A few scenes were also filmed in Fangliao Township and Jiadong Township of Pingtung County, Kaohsiung International Airport, Ximending and Wenshan District in Taipei. The final scene presenting the Japanese teacher (Kousuke Atari) and other Japanese people leaving Taiwan by ship was filmed in an abandoned brewery in Taichung with more than 500 extras. Before filming, Chie Tanaka had been staying in Taiwan for 15 months to study Chinese so she did not have major problems dealing with the Chinese lines in the film. Kousuke Atari played himself and as the 1940s Japanese teacher in this film.

Controversies

• The United Daily News published an editorial criticizing the film as "marred by colonial thoughts during the Japanese era" on September 25, 2008.

 

Seediq Bale

Official Website (video: trailer)

Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale (賽德克‧巴萊, transliterated from Seediq; literally "A Real Seediq or A Real Man") is an upcoming Taiwanese historical drama film directed by Wei Te-Sheng. The film so far has been selected as one of the films in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival.

Seediq Bale seeks to portray the Wushe Incident, a 1930 Seediq uprising led by Mona Rudao against the Japanese when Taiwan was a colony under Japanese rule beginning in 1895. In 2003, Wei raised NT$ 2 million to shoot a 5-minute demonstration film in order to showcase the story and to garner financial support. Despite the short film's positive critical reception, Wei could not secure enough funding to begin filming. However, due to the popularity of Wei's first full-length film Cape No. 7 in 2008, the director decided to revive Seediq Bale. It began production in 2009 with a US$10 million budget.

Plot: 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 anger, Tado Mona and his brother Baso Mona attack the policeman. And from that day onward, their tribe is living in the shadow of being the object of revenge by the Japanese.

In a few days, a group of youth surround Mona Rudao. They strongly request him to lead the retaliation against the Japanese. Mona Rudao struggles for a long time between extending his fellow's lives and fighting back for dignity, until he sees these youngster's faces - clear without Seediq's tattoos - that he made up his mind. He tells the youngsters, "Japanese troops out-number the stones in Dakusui River, more intensive than the leaves in the forest, but my determination fighting them is ever stronger than Mt. Kire."

"Children! On the tip of the Rainbow Bridge led to home of our ancestor's spirits, there is another beautiful hunting range. Our ancestors are all there! Remember, only brave spirits can enter this place, and we can never lose it. My fellows, let us hunt the heads of our enemies, and we wash our spirits with blood so that we walk the Rainbow Bridge to be always with our ancestors."

The film Seediq Bale depicts the Wushe Incident, which occurred in central Taiwan during the Japanese rule. When the Seediq Bale, believing in the Rainbow, and the Japanese, believing in the Sun, met one another, they fought. The leader of Seediq Bale, Mona Rudao, led 300 warriors fighting against 3000 Japanese troopers. The only thing they forgot was whether it was the Rainbow or the Sun they believed in; they actually believed in the same sky.

 

 

永康區, 臺南市

永康區位於臺灣臺南市西南，舊稱臺南縣永康鄉

永康開發頗早，史前文化有進入鐵器時代的蔦松文化。荷治時期亦有荷人在此築橋的紀錄，鄭成功死後也葬於境內的洲子尾。但永康在歷史上一直是臺南府城東側的僻地，直至戰後臺灣邁入工商業社會才急速成長，今已成都會區之一部份。

1920年臺灣地方改制，於此地設置永康庄，名稱取自清代保里名永康中上里，隸台南州新豐郡、設庄役場於埔姜頭（屬於永康大字）。

二次大戰後，改設鄉。1993年升格為縣轄市。2009年9月人口214,033超越屏東縣治屏東市。於2010年12月25日隨著五都改制，升格為直轄市，改制為臺南市永康區。

 

 

Taiwan's Glory * 台灣之光 * Taiwan's Glory