Last week I had the most amazing pleasure of meeting the Director of the Taiwanese movie Seediq Bale, Wei-Te Sheng! I was able to shake his hand and get his autograph on the movie poster thanks to the Press Secretary of the Taiwan Consulate here in San Francisco. However, I really want to let everyone know about this movie!
Seediq Bale: Warriors of the Rainbow is an amazing film from Taiwan in which describes the struggle of the Aboriginal people during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan in the late 1800’s. When Japan took over Taiwan around 1895, they completely oppressed the Taiwanese Aboriginal tribes and called them all “savages”
This story is quite similar to that of the United States and the Native American Indians. Taiwan Aboriginal tribes were considered savages by the Japanese and forced to become almost slaves doing the hardest work imaginable at that time in Taiwan. Aboriginal kids were often beaten in school if they didn’t learn quick enough or misbehaved.
The truth of the matter is that the Taiwan Aboriginal people were not savages at all. In fact, they communed with nature, had great faith, and were true to their families. They were Seediq Bale which in English can be translated as True men.
This movie highlights an important part of Taiwanese history called the Wushe Incident 霧社事件. The Wushe Incident took place in 1930 and was the uprising and rebellion of the Taiwan Aboriginals against the Japanese. It was the last major uprising against colonial Japanese forces in Taiwan.
You must go see this movie. It has some awesome special effects and plenty of action scenes but more importantly has a lot of heart and Spirit. Seediq Bale is a story that really spoke to my heart and made me think about the pride I have in being who I am. Not allowing anyone to oppress my Spirit and call me names such as Savage.
I have included the trailer of this movie below that includes the English subtitles just as it does in the actual movie. Another great thing about this film by Wei-Te Sheng is the amazing Soundtrack of the Taiwan Aboriginal music. It truly does make one feel connected to something higher than yourself.