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| Director, Producer: Wu Yii-feng Script: Guo Shiaw-yun Photography: Chan Chao-cheng, Yang Chorng-ming, Lee Jong-wang Editing: Lee Ya-fen Production Company, Source: Full Shot Film / Video Studio P.O.Box 99-207 Taipei, TAIWAN Phone: 886-2-7594856 Fax: 886-2-7594857 TAIWAN / 1996 / Chinese / Color Video / 90 min |
Born in Yi-lan, Taiwan in 1960. Studied theater at university. Began making documentaries after graduation, becoming mutually acquainted with the subjects of his films, learning important lessons about life and strengthening his awareness of creative work. During 8 years of documentary filmmaking, he always supported social minorities. Believing that he should take film production back to the actual place where people live, he is now actively involved in many areas of Taiwan, working to train documentarists. Major works include: Light of the Human Heart series, Moon Children, among others. |
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| This film presents the lives of seven old men who crossed over to Taiwan from the mainland with the Nationalist Army. Now living in shanty huts scheduled to become part of a redevelopment block, they are visited by Wu Yii-feng (Moon Children was screened at YIDFF 91). Through casual and open interviews conducted over a period of time, the filmmaker reveals each old man's life story, how the war twisted their fates, and hidden yearnings for their lost connection with the mainland. | |
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Director's Statement Over the course of one and a half years of filming seven old men in a disordered wooden room, I underwent some life-changing experiences that will stay in my heart forever. Those seven old men had been caught up in the Japanese invasion of China during World War II and the Chinese civil war after it, and had come from the mainland to Taiwan. By getting close to their everyday life I was able to hear the voice of their innermost heart. I felt deeply their experiences of being forced to leave their home towns in the middle of the chaos of war, unable even to exchange farewells with their dearest friends, and unable through over 40 years of suffering and hope, to make contact. I hope that we are able to feel the cruelty of war when the old men in this documentary talk of their love for their extended families, their friends, and their lovers from days gone by, recalled with a mixture of nostalgia and resignation. I think that to people like me, members of a generation with no experience of the war, these life experiences are both hard to endure and yet extremely valuable. I hope that many people are able to see this film and come to understand the old men's experiences. |
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