wix99 Reviews

Invisible Nation (2023)

Taiwan matters because democracy matters

[8/10 · 11 February 2024]

This documentary shines a light on the spirit and resilience of Taiwan's democracy in the face of an escalating military threat from China. The central focus is Taiwan's president, Tsai Ing-wen who was elected in 2016. The filmmaker had good access to Tsai and conducted several interviews with her over the period from 2016 to 2022. Tsai admits she was a shy child, but she really is a quiet achiever. She has resolutely upheld Taiwan's sovereignty and helped to strengthen Taiwan's support from the international community while China has simultaneously exerted military and diplomatic pressure to isolate Taiwan.

Taiwan is shown as a nation that values democracy, peace and pluralism, a sharp contrast to its bullying neighbour which threatens Taiwan with violence. A number of key figures in Tsai's government were also interviewed including foreign minister, Joseph Wu, and former representative to the USA, Hsiao Bi-khim. They are Taiwan's greatest and most tireless advocates and have been key to the success of Tsai's efforts to raise Taiwan's international support.

The documentary would have benefited from including more voices from Taiwan's younger generations. They are, after all, Taiwan's future. Overall, Invisible Nation presents a clear narrative of Taiwan maintaining its democracy in difficult circumstances. At a time when democracy around the world is under pressure Taiwan shows the value of democracy, but that democracy cannot survive without the world's support.

A Letter to A'ma (2021)

Deep insight into Taiwan's history through ethnography

[9/10 · 7 September 2023]

This documentary was directed by a high school art teacher who gave her students a project to interview their grandparents. The project was expanded to include high schools around Taiwan. This gives the documentary a meta-narrative in that it films students making films. As a result the film the shows the diversity of historical experience in Taiwan rather than just focusing on one family or one ethnic group.

The stories told focus on events in the 1940s, a time of extraordinary upheaval and change in Taiwan. At the beginning of the decade Taiwan was under Japanese control as WW2 raged in the Pacific. By the end of the decade Taiwan had come under control of the Chinese Nationalists and suffered the tragedy of the 228 Massacre and the beginning of the White Terror period.

The documentary captures the shifting identities and the deep suffering of many families as their lives were disrupted in many ways. Their stories are Taiwan's history and it is rich and complex.

Trinity of Shadows (2021– )

Taiwan police drama that loses its way

[6/10 · 19 August 2023]

This series is an interesting police procedural about the investigation of a series of murders in New Taipei City. The main characters all have interesting back stories which are developed as the show progresses. It shows some of Taiwan's linguistic and cultural diversity with Vietnamese and Cantonese speaking characters (although the majority of the dialogue is in Mandarin and Taiwanese). The main problem with the series is that it goes off on a tangent after episode ten and loses focus on policing and becomes more of a story about revenge and personal trauma. With a more focused script this series could have been much more worthy of attention.

Chloe and Theo (2015)

Good ideas let down by bad script

[5/10 · 2 May 2021]

This movie had good intentions and the potential to convey an important message. However, it was let down by a poor script. Given that the film's intention was to highlight the wisdom of First Nations peoples, it could have done a lot more to centre the voice of Theo. Instead there was too much focus on the other characters and Theo's message didn't have the impact that it should have.

Capturing Cricket: Steve Waugh in India (2020 TV Movie)

The beauty of cricket

[8/10 · 31 January 2021]

This is a beautiful documentary about Steve Waugh, about cricket and about India. The thing that shines through is Waugh's love for India and India's passion for cricket. Waugh criss-crosses the country capturing cricketers playing in all kinds of conditions. There are young players of great talent, Tibetan monks and blind cricketers. It is also great to see many girls and young women playing the game. After watching this documentary I was left with the impression that India will be a superpower of cricket for many years to come.

The Hot Zone (2019–2021)

Frustrating to watch

[6/10 · 8 August 2020]

The production of this series is certainly timely. It reminds us that scientists knew and warned about the risks of pandemics, but their words were usually ignored.

The way the work of scientists was depicted left me feeling frustrated. Scientists are the ones who know and understand the risks so why did they series depict them showing such as disregard for basic safety practices when coming into contact with potentially contagious and lethal pathogens. One minute they are handling the samples in a Level 4 Biohazard Facility and the next minute putting them in the back of a car in a plastic bag.

Perhaps safe working practices were not as common in the 1980s where this series was set. However, I just spent way too much time cringing while watching this.

The Least Expected Day (2020–2022)

Frustrating to watch

[6/10 · 7 June 2020]

If you are cycling fan who closely follows the Grand Tours then you will get a lot out of watching this. It goes behind the scenes of one of cycling's most powerful and successful teams. The team contains a number of stars and although they achieve a number of great results the team is often at war with itself. The team members themselves admit to "communication issues," "tensions" and even a "civil war" within the team.

The real problem with this series was its lack of a clear narrative structure. Many significant events take place without sufficient context being given. If you don't know much about cycling then you will probably find it confusing and miss many of the key points.

Overall this is a great series for serious cycling fans. For others seeking an introduction to the world of cycling I suggest "All For One" might be a more interesting documentary to watch.

The Program (II) (2015)

A bit flat

[6/10 · 5 October 2019]

This dramatization of Lance Armstrong's career is a bit flat. There are a couple of documentaries which are far more compelling and effective in telling this story. The real life Lance Armstrong -- a bully, a liar and a cheat -- was a more powerful and power-hungry figure than the one portrayed by Ben Foster.

Storm Boy (2019)

Remake fails to capture spirit of original

[6/10 · 19 January 2019]

I watched the original Storm Boy as a young child. It made quite an impression on me at the time. Even such that to this day I continue to think of all pelicans as Mr Percival.

Remaking a much loved film will always invite comparisons with the original. One would hope that the remake could add something new and adapt the story to reflect contemporary values and events. This remake attempts to do those things, but ultimately falls flat.

First, I should acknowledge that Finn Little does a superb job acting as Storm Boy. His performance, along with the pelican scenes, are the highlights of the film.

Jai Courtney as Hideaway Tom and Trevor Jamieson as Fingerbone Bill perform the other key roles in the film. Yet they are never really given the chance to show the emotional depth of their characters. Their back stories are briefly alluded to yet never fully developed.

The film's major flaw is that it uses Geoffrey Rush in the role of an older man reflecting on his childhood as a Storm Boy. This is unnecessary and seems to suggest that the director and writers had a lack of confidence in the ability of the other actors to carry the story on their own.

Similarly, the linking of the story to a contemporary battle over mining and indigenous land rights in the Pilbara seems unnecessary and even clumsy. Surely it would be sufficient to focus more on ecological concerns about the Coorong wetlands where the story takes place rather than somewhere remote and abstract? Furthermore, Fingerbone Bill could have been given more of a role to highlight indigenous understanding of the land and his people's ongoing struggle for recognition of their culture and land rights.

For those who are not familiar with the original this film will probably pass as good entertainment. Hopefully it will lead to more appreciation of the original work.

Romper Stomper (2018)

Flawed in many ways but still engaging drama

[7/10 · 16 January 2018]

The first couple of episodes were great but the quality of the acting and the writing seemed to go downhill from there. The final episode was a mess as the writers struggled to tie together all the key plot elements and it became a bit ridiculous.

Overall I still felt this was worth watching. It is a fascinating look at extremism and violence. It shines the spotlight on both right-wing racists and left-wing anarchists. Although these two groups are at opposite ends of the political spectrum they are similar in that they believe unquestioningly in their in political ideals and don't hesitate to use violence to achieve them. The irony is that both sides spend most of their time fighting each other and achieving nothing politically.

I think most people could see the hypocrisy and stupidity of these two groups for what they are. Although there does seem to be a risk that some people who already hold extreme views would see the fictional story as confirming their own biases.