Following its world
premiere at the first Taoyuan Film Festival, the film went on to win the Golden
Horse Award for best documentary and even inspired a Facebook post
by President Ma Ying-jeou, announcing that the government would start work
on 16 of the environmental problems highlighted by the film.
Combining
extensive knowledge of Taiwan’s geography (drawn from a long stint at the
National Highway Engineering Bureau) with 20 years’ experience as a
professional aerial photographer, Chi spent about 400 hours’ flying time over
three years to capture his images. The approximately $9 million project has an
advantage over “Home” in focusing on one territory with its specific culture
and ecosystem, thus avoiding the sort of sanctimonious tone that can come with
generalizations. Via the sincere, approachable voiceover of masterful Taiwan
New Wave screenwriter-helmer Wu Nien-jen (“A Borrowed Life”), the (1)narration,
though often mournful, also evokes a Chinese-style poetic romanticism.
As the camera
(2)swoops over the verdurous topography, its roads and tributaries intertwined
like branches of a tree, Wu promises to show Taiwan Taiwan
High
mountains that occupy two-thirds of the land are (3)ravaged by heavy logging,
roadworks, and over-harvesting of minerals and cash crops like tea and betel
nut. Moving from land to water, things only get worse. Mud and stone deposits
from construction projects pollute reservoirs and reduce their life expectancy.
The building of breakwaters for farming has nearly cordoned off the coastline
from the ocean. One-half of Taiwan Taichung
All this
environmental malpractice may not be unique to Taiwan, but the statistics will
register strongly even for international auds, such as the 7.4 million tons of
refuse produced yearly, or the 19 million tons of (5)cement mined yearly, of
which half is exported purely for profit.
Viewed from
such a high altitude, the degree of devastation looks especially grave, yet
it’s hard to look away. Chi is expert at capturing images with powerful impact,
such as condos perched precariously on a visibly eroded precipice, or canals
with water as black as squid ink running through large residential areas, or a
woodland’s bald patches after being razed for limestone and silica mining.
The last 15
minutes or so lighten up with the introduction of nature-conscious
entrepreneurs who operate organic farms against all odds. The closing shots
provide a change of scenery with truly wondrous vistas of Taiwan
Considered Taiwan
Structure
of the Lead：
WHO-Chi Po-lin
WHEN-
Jan 1st 2014
WHAT-
Recording Taiwan’s beauty
WHY- Combining extensive knowledge of Taiwan
WHERE-
Taiwan
HOW-
unknown
Keywords:
(1)
narration 記敘文
(2)
swoop 落下
(3)
ravage 蹂躪
(4)
wetland 濕地
(5)
cement 水泥
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