
This summer, Taiwanese cinema is not only celebrating a comeback, but is also shining like the sun. No matter how strongly the typhoon hits Taiwan, movie theaters are witnessing hundreds, if not thousands, of people waiting in line just for the new film, “Cape No.7“.
The movie became a blockbuster after 2 months, and went from poor reviews to over NT$ 100 million (aprox. US$ 3.1 million) in box-office sales (estimated). This original Taiwanese movie has suddenly become a national phenomenon, revitalizing Taiwanese citizens who until recently were feeling trapped by their poor Olympics performance, and ever-lasting political dust.
An avid movie reviewer, Ryan (zh) uses this movie to comment on the matter of a much-discussed ex-President's overseas bank account. He cannot help but wonder how great it would be if he didn't donate any money to our ex-President but to the director of Cape No.7. He also remarks that this movie does not only stand firm on the expression of local culture, but also has a truly honest and non-exploitative attitude in its portrayal of local figures. He also points out a reference to the early work of the internationally renown Taiwanese director, Hou Hsiao-Hsien.
關於侯孝賢公開美言《海角七號》,表示「太好看了,我等台灣出現這樣的電影,已經等很久了!」我想這絕非僅只 是單純禮貌性的場面話。正如他當年走出三廳電影的刻板公式,以超越類型片的細微敏感,活潑地捕捉當代台灣城鄉生活,為「全球情感,在地特色」的商業電影做 了最精彩的示範,如今相隔四分之一個世紀,小魏導演再度踏上這條軌道,以台幣五千萬打造既新穎又懷舊的《海角七號》,怎能不叫人興奮?
Ryan further says:
在這痛徹心肺的日子裡,《海角七號》讓我明白,「愛台灣」三個字其實可以實踐得如此真實。
Taiwanese original cinema has long been under a great depression, therefore, 'supporting Taiwanese original cinema' also has been sloganized as a patriotic activity. Although Taiwanese original films have won awards and have significant reputation at notable film festivals, they are still considered caviar by the general public and end up as box-office poison in local cinema markets. In the long run, film companies, distributors and cinemas lose their interest in investing and showing Taiwan original films.
Another film, The Wall(牆之魘), was out earlier this year, but faced an embarrassing difficulty: no cinema wanted to show it, as annpo puts it (zh):
因為這個「二二八的背景」讓許多電影院不願意上映這部電影(但我想國片本來就很毒藥XD)
Cape No.7 has something different than what audiences generally expect from Taiwanese cinema. Taiwanese lost their confidence in Taiwanese cinema for a long time. They regarded seeing Taiwanese films as charity. Cape No.7 is a good story teller, telling stories with local consciousness currently cultivating in Taiwan. Further, its reputation is built by word of mouth and on the Internet. Audiences go to see the film not only for doing something which means “I love Taiwan” but for experiencing their love for Taiwan.
Cape No.7's success in box-office makes many audiences feel excited. Yang Xiao Guai says:
終於,等到國片迷到眾生的這一刻。這種心情,還真像《海角》裡那個「要放火把恆春燒了、召回所有年輕人回鄉,重新打造一個自己的 恆春」的鎮代;我想這是候孝賢說的:「等這部片子等了十年」的意思,在極端高傲(如蔡明亮)和極端白爛(如吳宗憲)的電影,畫分出小眾和微眾的國片巿場之 後,終於出現了黃金交叉點,達到絕大多數台灣人的情感和價值觀的邊際曲線,喚回了這十年來被排除及出走的國片觀眾。
Because Cape No.7 has been so successful at the box-office, many people started to discuss marketing for Taiwanese cinema and analyze the success of this film. As Tzara mentions:
如果說《海角七號》的狂賣也來自於「普羅大眾的口碑」,那《海角七號》另一個重大的影響力就是成功拉抬普羅 觀眾對於國片觀感。而這裡只得「普羅觀眾」,正是那些願意「不作任何功課」,光看到片名、廣告、電影海報、電影預告就願意進去看的「大眾」;是那些過往認 為「看國片浪費錢」、「看國片一點都不能拿出來說嘴,不能獲得同儕認同」的大眾。而《海角七號》得以成功攻進這塊過往難以攻佔的票房人口,才是真正賣座的 關鍵。
國片觀眾+第一波普羅大眾在網路討論的熱度(尤其是PTT),MSN暱稱的串聯,成功吸引第二波普羅大眾的興趣,甚至形成「非看不可」,「大家都在看」的一窩瘋現象(很正面的)。
The first film that successfully attracted audiences by word of mouth marketing this year is Winds of September (九降風). It earned NT$ 3 million at the box-office. (In response to the current Taiwanese cinema trend, “Winds of September” will be shown in theatres again soon.) Last year, Island Etude (練習曲)was a suceess at the box-office thanks to internet and word of month marketing, earning NT$ 9 million. To build the reputations of the film, Chen Huai-en, the director, disregarded costs and publicly showed the film for free around Taiwan. He said he wanted cinema to be not just for the young, but for families also.
As annpo writes in her article:
陳懷恩苦笑地說,以台灣現在的國片環境,這些心血自然無法以獲利的方式回收,但他拍這樣的電影,原本就不奢 望能夠賺錢,而是希望能讓很多人都有機會來看這部電影,台灣各地的人都看得到,全家人一起看…,讓大家感受一下台灣的美好,學習從不同的方位視角來看台 灣,這塊我們的土地。
Cape No.7 achieves the goal Island Etude expected to achieve last year. Its audiences cover wider age-levels. The film intends to describe local flavors, features different ethnic groups, lovely common people through touching elements of dreams and love.
Woosean, who is good at writing film reviews, says:
我對魏德聖這個人的佩服,以及本片散發出的、屬於台灣電影的潛力。雖然我相信追求夢想不是賭博,但我欣賞魏 德聖這種義無反顧的氣魄,而本片雖然離完美很遠,但本片確實展現了近期台灣電影少有的潛力,這潛力橫跨商業性與在地元素的利用,以致於直指人心的單純感 動,再再說明了,有好的故事、好的團隊與好的管理技巧,台灣電影也能揚眉吐氣。
誰說我們沒有故事?只要願意想、願意說,故事真的隨處都是。
Many audiences are touched by the love story (zh) in the film. However, more audiences are moved by the rationales delivered by the film. These rationales include Taiwan identity issues (zh), local changes and stories behind these changes (zh), and folk cultures (zh). BOT issues of Taiwan's natural scenes and mountain forests draw attention to audiences. As poiesis says (zh):
山上也要BOT,海邊也要BOT,什麼都被BOT。
為什麼這麼一片美麗的海,被飯店圍起來,我們民眾都沒辦法看到?
只能讓住在這飯店的外地人看? ──電影《海角七號》
正當《海角七號》的那段台詞大概已是流傳街頭巷尾的耳熟能詳,搶救蕃仔澳及杉原海岸的雙灣行動,也同時開始了。沒人可以說得清楚,是公民社會團體挪借了《海角七號》的大眾支持?抑或,這只是因為《海角七號》表達出了「非台北觀點」共同感受的集體憤怒?
Munch directly points out that the goal of the film is to implicitly criticize local reality. He pays tribute to the director's ambition to do so in the film:
在電影裡,不會只是消費鄉土風味,現實的鄉土反思都在,懶惰的郵差,衝動的警察,甚至談及地方發展的困境, 讓人看明星,也能看見土地,特別是借了夏都旅館的場地,讓鎮代痛罵外來者佔據沙灘,恆春人不能享受,罵的正是佔據大灣沙灘的夏都,這種反省與膽識,看了讓 人過癮,借你地還罵你,夠棒的魏德聖導演。
“Cape No.7″'s success at the box-office means a lot to Taiwanese original cinema. Audiences are getting to know a great diversity of Taiwanese local stories and spectacular Taiwanese original cinema through popular film language. The director's messages are delivered and being understood while audiences laugh and are moved by the film.
Following the current trend of Taiwanese cinema, the new film “Orz Boys” (囧男孩)talks of single-parent boys' dreams and imagination of life. Achieving box-office success in a similar way to “Cape No.7″, Orz Boys touches audiences' hearts by the language of the film which makes people laugh and cry.
For Taiwanese cinema, this is considered a year of renaissance, reviving box-offices and a variety of film genres. These films represent the creativity and diversity of Taiwanese cinema, including “God Man Dog“(流浪神狗人), Butterfly (蝴蝶)and The Wall(牆之魘) based on historical and cultural issues, Gay and Lesbian films Candy Rain (花吃了那女孩)and Drifting Flowers(漂浪青春), YA films Winds of September (九降風)and Orz Boys, and even a semi-documentary What on earth have i done wrong?!(情 非得已之生存之道). Moreover, most directors and actors of above-mentioned films are rookies, who bring in a fresh look to Taiwanese cinema.

This post is originally written in Chinese by Annpo, translated into English by Chia-Chun and me.
Is Jihad spilling from the ground on to the virtual world? Egyptian blogger Marwa Rakha writes here (and here) about how the internet has affected the ongoing debate between the secular and Islamic camps in Egypt.
She writes:
It is no big secret that the number of Egyptians who believe that Egypt should become a secular nation are increasing. Mainly, intellectual bilingual well-educated people have realized that inter-faith strives are holding the country back.
And for sure both Secular and Religious Egyptians along with their debates and struggles have made their presence felt in the blogosphere and on Facebook groups. Rakha explains:
On the other hand, the number of Islamic fundamentalists and Muslim Brothers is increasing. Their jihad methods have evolved from swords, bombs, banners, stickers, and tapes to invade the world wide web.
And for sure there are more weapons both camps can use besides arguments and discussions on the internet battlefield. Rakha explains:
Facebook's liberal activists were the main target of hackers who took over accounts, changed the name of the owner, sent out messages to his or her friends, deleted the account altogether, sabotaged his or her groups, and used obscene pictures and words to totally defame that person.
Groups that were hacked began posting offensive messages about the admins who lost control over the group and the hackers had more access to more people who do not think that Egypt is an Islamic country. Other than hacking, they created fake accounts that mimicked those of known liberal writers and activists.
One of the activists said “my account was hacked which is painful, especially that I had previously lost all my content while joining a network and I had to start all over”
Another activist said “I personally suggest for group owners to have always a backup account as well and both of them admins; I learnt this tip from other group owners. As for not using my own self I don't like the idea. I prefer being me, if there are sick people out there its their problem. Facebook was meant for us to get together decently and to get to know each other normally; if I need to go through all this hassle I'd rather then not use it at all.”
The ongoing collapse, bail-out and buy-out of Wall Street investment banks, threatening a U.S. and possibly worldwide recession, has triggered no lack of debates in Japanese blogs on the country's strong financial connection with its overseas ally.

Photo by Flickr user conorwithonen
Michi Kaifu [海部美知] (known in Japan for her blog Tech Mom from Silicon Valley) writes at newsvine.com about the Japanese precedent to the current Wall Street crisis:
The demise of Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch reminded me of my home country Japan 10 years ago. Amid the post-real-estate-bubble mess, in 1997, Yamaichi Secirities, then one of the “Big Four” brokers in Japan, closed its doors. Long Term Credit Bank and Nippon Credit Bank wend under as well.
She refers to a Wall Street Journal article which discusses this precedent, noting that “career flexibility was not woven into [Japan's] social system yet” when the economic bubble burst 10 years ago in Japan:
In the end, many employees from those failed brokers and banks found jobs in other financial institutions. Some still had to go out and seek the opportunity in the new world. It is not an official story, but I have my own theory that this “spill over” employment issue caused a chain reaction in the form of “mobile phone boom” and pushed Japan up to one of the most sophisticated mobile countries in the world.

Tokyo Stock Exchange. Photo by Flickr user Goodimages
Economist and blogger Nobuo Ikeda [池田信夫] at Truth about Japan makes a similar observation in a post titled “Lessons of Yamaichi“:
The tragedy of Lehman Brothers and the following jump of interbank rates remind me of a similar event in Japan eleven years ago. Yamaichi Shoken, one of the Big Four security brokers, filed to close business in November, 1997.
Ikeda explains that the close of Yamaichi Shoken [ja] [山一證券] resulted from the bankruptcy of another broker, Sanyo Shoken, which then triggered default on an interbank loan, resulting in panic and the failure of Hokkaido Takushoku Bank and Yamaichi:
The Ministry of Finance let Yamaichi fail because it was only a broker. However, Fuji Bank, the “main bank” of Yamaichi became the target of short selling, because Yamaichi's bankruptcy signaled the liquidity crisis of Fuji. Then overall credit crunch emerged, which forced the MoF to bailout 21 major banks in 1998. It was similar to that of AIG.
In a post entitled “This thing called confidence” (信用というもの), blogger kitanotakeshi55 responds to a comment [ja] by Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano that influence from the financial crisis would be on the order of a bee sting (ハチが刺した程度):
結局、元大蔵省のエリート官僚達は予算を決めるのが自分たちの仕事だと信じているのです。予算を決めて、国債の発行額を決める。キャリアの官僚の仕事はそこまでだ、というのです。流通がどうなろうと、実際の取引で何がどこでフェールしようと、それはキャリアの官僚の管轄外、という認識です。こういう人(々)が今や国会議員で首相を目指している訳です。
(kitanotakeshi55 makes a note here that Yosano was in fact not born a career bureaucrat, and that while the way Yosano was described in this blog entry would seem to make him out to be that type, this was not the blogger's intent.)
kitanotakeshi55 continues with a parallel to the ongoing tainted rice scandal:
国民の皆さん、特に港区のみなさん、よく覚えておきましょうね。考えてみると検査さえすれば実際の流通の現場がどうなってるかなんて関知しないよ、と言っている事故米と全く同じ構図ですね。こういうものなのですよ、実態は。
Blogger nutrocker writes about how complicated the system of global financial transactions has become:
汚染米ではないが、信用度の低い住宅ローン債権を、見てくれの良い金融商品に変え、金融取引を可能にさせたのが、いわゆる金融工学なる学問が生みだした錬金術である。伝統的な金融取引の場合、お金(資金)の借り手と貸し手との関係は明確で、個別にリスク管理ができる。金融工学はこのような単純な仕組みを見えなくしてしまった。数学的、統計的な手法を用いて、新たな金融マーケットを生みだした。実体経済を伴わない金融商品が多数作り出されることになった。そこに金の亡者どもが群がり、これぞ新しい金融経済だとばかりに、国の財務担当者までが一斉になびいてしまった。
Blogger Jei at The Diary After Retirement is worried about the phenomenon of “borderless investment”:
あえて信用度の低いところを狙った金融というのは,理解しがたい。しかし,それを証券化することによって(お金でもないのに紙に書いた数字の羅列で)商売をすることができるというのが,アメリカ市場主義の恐ろしいところだと思う。結局リーマンブラザーズは「サブプライムローンが焦げ付き」→「他の証券会社より多くの投資をしていたため巨額の損失」を被ったということだろう。それがリーマンブラザーズ一社の破綻で終わらないところが恐ろしい。いまや世界の経済は,こうした投資がボーダレスにつながっていて,それこそ全世界の株価にはねあがってくるのだから恐ろしい。
At gatto libero, another blogger writes about how dark and gloomy the world has become recently:
ただでさえ温暖化、ゲリラ豪雨、食安全問題とかいろいろふあんなところにもってきて
サブプライム問題以降いつ大恐慌が起きてもおかしくない状態、
おまけに福岡や千葉で子供が殺される事件が起きて、
不安だらけで希望があまりもてない世界になってきたなあと思います。
あんまり暗いことばかり考えたくないけどね…
Blogger kawaii123, finally, suggests that maybe it is capitalism itself that is coming apart:
今の資本主義自体が行き詰っているというこのなのでしょうか?
日本のマスコミは、都合のいいニュースしか放送しませんが、本当に役に立つ情報は
やはり、自分で見つけるしかないのかもしれなせんね。
中南米諸国では、ますます反米、嫌米主義が激しくなってきています。
それは、アメリカという国の力が衰えてきている証拠でしょう。今回のサブプライムで
完全にアメリカのドルの価値は下がり、どの貨幣が力をつけてくるのか注目されます。
ヨーロッパが、ユーロを共通の通貨にしたのは、やはり、先を読んでいた結果です。
日本もアジア圏で、円の力をつけようとしましたが、アメリカの横槍で潰された経緯が
あります。
For another interesting perspective, check out this post [ja] at My Image Ltd. by blogger Waki, who finds a connection between the ease-of-use of the iPhone and the collapse of Wall Street investment banks.
In China, an estimated 13,000 children have fallen ill since the tainted milk scandal broke.
Chinese influence has grown in Africa, as have imports of all kinds products, from running shoes to instant noodles. Bloggers as far afield as Congo and Senegal, concerned about the safety of Chinese products in their countries, are closely following the story. (more…)
Cuckoo's Call posts some photos of Ramadan in Calcutta (Kolkata).
Ethiopian blogger, Arefe, writes “An Ethiopian actor who paid for Iago’s sin”: “The late Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin was the leading Amharic Shakespeare translator and his translation of Othello has been a popular item in the Addis Ababa theatrical repertoire.In the article, “Shakespeare in Ethiopia”, Prof.Richard Pankhurst relates the public’s reaction to the theatre, particularly to that of the deceitful Iago, played by Surafel Gashaw.”
A recycling center in Kenya is looking for help: “The Karen Langata District Association (KLDA) runs a bottle bank at the Langata Link complex where residents of Karen and Langata can drop off empty glass bottles for recycling. Lately they have been receiving huge amounts of bottles and the glass company responsible for collecting these is not able to cope.”