The air smelled like rain and the mud stuck to the shoes of a group of local journalists as they arrived at a mountainous area in Taipei last Friday, one of the shooting locations for Seediq Bale.
It started to drizzle and eventually a heavy downpour. Everyone got wet, but no one complained, probably embarrassed to grumble about half a days bad weather when hundreds of actors had to take cold baths and rolled in mud during the past seven months of filming for Seediq Bale, filmmaker Wei Te-shengs second feature following Cape No.7.
Cape No. 7 released two years ago generated box office receipts of more than NT$500 million, a hundred times more than the average take of a local film. It was the second top-selling movie in Taiwan film history, only after Titanic.
Seediq Bale means a real man in the language of the Seediq, an aboriginal tribe that fought fearlessly against the Japanese army during the colonial period (1895-1945). After decades of struggling for recognition, the Taiwan government finally recognized them as Taiwan's 14th indigenous tribe on April 23, 2008.
Shooting finished in September. The movie will have 250 scenes and run for four hours. It is likely that the film will be shown in two parts.
The one-minute trailer made public at the press conference was captivating.
Taiwans first epic feature
Expected to hit the cinema next summer, Seediq Bale is Taiwans first epic feature about indigenous heroes.
It is based on the most famous and violent of all anti-Japanese uprisings in Taiwan, the 1930 Wushe Incident that was carried out under the leadership of Mona Rudao, the son of a Seediq tribe chief, in the aboriginal region of Wushe in present-day Nantou County.
Except for the 25 main characters, also from indigenous tribes, the rest of the cast are non-professional actors from the Seediq, Atayal, and Taroko tribes. Everyone had to learn the Seediq language.
Wei spent NT$80 million to build a replica of Wushe Street, a Japanese-style compound designed by Japanese production designer Youhei Taneda. The complex takes up about 3,600 square meters in the mountainous area in Linkou, New Taipei City. A scene where more than 100 Japanese people were decapitated in a school by Mona and his tribesmen was shot here in Wushe Street.
"Unlike most films that give away money to famed actors and actresses, we are saving money and spending everything on the production, Wei said at Fridays press conference.
He thought of making Seediq Bale 12 years ago and had a script written in 1997 revised 10 times. He made Cape No.7 only to prove that his films could be commercially viable, but his ultimate goal was to make Seediq Bale, with a budget of NT$600 million.
Wei had to hire Japanese and South Korean special effects technicians because of the small pool of such professionals in Taiwan. The films fight scenes had to be as realistic as possible. For the past seven months, the 400-member crew trekked into the mountainous areas of northern and eastern Taiwan to shoot the film. Some parts of the script called for rainy weather.
Wei used every penny he made from "Cape, including the NT$100 million box office earnings and the NT$160 million prize from the Government Information Office. He also loaned NT$100 million from a bank, but still has a shortfall of NT$200 million.
The three actresses including Vivian Hsu, Landy Wen, and Luo Mei-ling volunteered to play the lead roles without receiving any payment from Wei, whose friends constantly advised against going ahead with the film.
"I chose to press on, Wei wrote in the official blog for Seediq. The movie tells the story that people need to know.
But after shooting for seven months, Wei had some doubts. Its very difficult to predict whether movie fans will be interested in seeing a film that tells the story of an aboriginal hero, he said. Am I doing the right thing?
"I would not say Seediq Bale is a great film, but its a movie that needs to be made.
In addition to having to pay huge accommodation fees and shooting in dangerous areas at low temperatures, Wei worried that the crew members would suffer emotional and physical meltdown.
"Theyre all tired, he said. And many of them got hurt during the shooting and some quit, but came back later.
A man who earns respect
GIO Minister Johnny Chiang praised Wei for his will to carry through the difficult shooting project. He said such perseverance meant that a great movie would be made, but refused to say whether the government would provide more help for Wei to finish filming.
John Woo, Hong Kong's onetime master of the action genre, is the producer for Seediq Bale. He came to Weis aid because he was touched by the story and by Weis talent. The movie is about fighting for ones dignity, he said and promised to find overseas buyers for the film.
Dakis Pawan or Kuo Ming-cheng, a Seediq expert who was invited to be the consultant for the epic feature, said the Wushe Incident remains a taboo subject for many Seediq descendents even though it happened 80 years ago.
"Wushe Incident is like the White Terror for the aboriginal groups, he told the Taiwan News.
After a Japanese police officer insulted a tribesman, hundreds of Seediqs, under the leadership of tribal chief Mona Rudao, massacred Japanese residents in the Wushe area, killing 215 Japanese.
Shocked and furious at the uprising of the Seediq people, the Japanese colonial government sent tens of thousands of troops to the Wushe area to retaliate.
During the military crackdown, most of the tribal insurgents were either killed or committed suicide, along with their family members or fellow tribesmen, including Mona Rudao himself, who killed his wife before committing suicide.
It was reported that 87 aborigines were then decapitated, 85 were shot, 171 died in bombings, and 296 hanged themselves to avoid humiliation.
The remaining 298 Seediq tribesmen were forced to move away from their homes to a place now called the Cingliou community in Nantou County.
Dakis said that for him, a Seediq, it was still difficult to understand why his ancestors had such a strong will to fight against the Japanese. By nature, Seediqs respect the land and protect their families. The Wushe Incident and the following uprisings can be seen as a symbol of Taiwans indigenous peoples rejecting foreign domination. Without a doubt, Wei is sincere in wanting to express this in film, he said.
You can probably watch it free from the intertubes after the limited theater run.
