Day 8: Warriors of the Rainbow

Day 8:

Goal of the day was to distract me from my pending flight.

First we went to the Library of Congress, and oohed and ahhed over the Gutenberg Bible. I love the architecture there... it's really doesn't get enough attention.  The ceiling is amazing... a true work of art.  After perusing the Early American exhibition, we toodled over to Gallery Place, to watch Warriors of the Rainbow, which was part of FilmFestDC.

Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale is about the aboriginal peoples, in particular the Me of Taiwan and their rebellion against colonizing Japanese forces.  I had never given much thought to the idea that Taiwan had had a native population, and I assumed (incorrectly) that it must resemble a Chinese or Japanese culture.  Boy, was I wrong.  This film, ten years in the making, originally ran at four and a half hours, but was cut down to two and a half for its screening here in DC.  Taiwan's most expensive film to date, it's both beautiful and terribly sad.

The film had too many battle scenes... I wonder how many were in the four and a half hour version!  The ending was somewhat ambiguous, and could have ended nicely a scene or two earlier.  The CGI was hit-and-miss (the CGI animals' movements were too fast and jerky to be natural).  The cinematography was wonderful, and the setting beautiful.  Taiwan is truly gorgeous.  The Tao culture reminded me of Australian aboriginal culture more than Chinese or Japanese.  Even the music echoed a didgeridoo, to my ears.  The soundtrack complemented the movie very well, and I think I may end up buying it.  I especially loved the vocal harmonies sung by the protagonist and his father.

The acting was totally believable.  Mouna Rudo, the focus of the film, was played by Lin Ching-Tai, himself a member of the native Tao culture.  He did wonderfully.  Moreover, I got to see him in person!  After the film, the audience was treated to a reception with an open bar.  Open bar=I liked the film even more.  Lin Ching-Tai did not speak any English, but with the help of a translator from George Washington University, he talked to us about making the movie.  I took lots of pictures, but my camera hates low light, and most of them didn't turn out.  Whatever the case, I saw a bona-fide movie star!

After the reception, I was feeling quite merry (with the help of two screwdrivers).  Mom and I went to a salad bar (Subway for salads) where I got to order a grilled asian salad "naked" (sans meat, per their menu).  I got to ask "Could I have a naked Asian?"  with a straight face.  I don't think I'll get a chance to do that again!