Despite an ad campaign suggesting wall-to-wall special effects, Bridge to Terabithia is grounded in reality far more than in fantasy. Adapting Katherine Paterson's award-winning novel, the screenwriters David Paterson (Ms. Paterson's son) and Jeff Stockwell have produced a thoughtful and extremely affecting story of a transformative friendship between two unusually gifted children. The result is a movie whose emotional depth could appeal more to adults than to their offspring.
Jess Aarons (Josh Hutcherson) is a sixth grader with four sisters, financially strained parents (Robert Patrick and Kate Butler) and a talent for drawing. An introverted kid who is regularly picked on by the school jerks, Jess forms a bond with a new student named Leslie (AnnaSophia Robb), a free spirit whose parents, both writers, are fondly neglectful. An attraction between outsiders, their friendship feeds on her words and his pictures; together they create an imaginary kingdom in the woods behind their homes, a world they can control and where their minds can roam free.
Beautifully capturing a time when a bully in school can loom as large as a troll in a nightmare and the encouragement of a teacher can alter the course of a life, Bridge to Terabithia keeps the fantasy in the background to find magic in the everyday. Gabor Csupo, one of the creators of Rugrats, directs this, his first feature, like someone intimate with the pain of being different, allowing each personality more than a single characteristic and reveling in tiny, perfect details: the mending tape hugging a worn pair of sneakers, the way a child detects the tension in a parent's hushed conversation, the inchoate isolation of a lone boy in a house filled with the sounds of women.
PHOTOS COURTEY OF CMC
With strong performances from all the leads, including Zooey Deschanel as a spirited music teacher and little Bailey Madison as Jesse's youngest sister, May Belle, Bridge to Terabithia is able to handle adult topics with nuance and sensitivity. As the emotional landscape darkens, those who haven't read the book may be surprised at the sorrow the filmmakers evoke without ever resorting to shock or sentimentality. In other words, your children may sniffle, but they won't be traumatized.
Consistently smart and delicate as a spider web, Bridge to Terabithia is the kind of children's movie rarely seen nowadays. And at a time when many public schools are being forced to cut music and art from the curriculum, the story's insistence on the healing power of a nurtured imagination is both welcome and essential.
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
Despite the intense sunshine, we were hardly breaking a sweat as we cruised along the flat, dedicated bike lane, well protected from the heat by a canopy of trees. The electric assist on the bikes likely made a difference, too. Far removed from the bustle and noise of the Taichung traffic, we admired the serene rural scenery, making our way over rivers, alongside rice paddies and through pear orchards. Our route for the day covered two bike paths that connect in Fengyuan District (豐原) and are best done together. The Hou-Feng Bike Path (后豐鐵馬道) runs southward from Houli District (后里) while the
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 national security speech marked a turning point. He signaled that the government was finally getting serious about a whole-of-society approach to defending the nation. The presidential office summarized his speech succinctly: “President Lai introduced 17 major strategies to respond to five major national security and united front threats Taiwan now faces: China’s threat to national sovereignty, its threats from infiltration and espionage activities targeting Taiwan’s military, its threats aimed at obscuring the national identity of the people of Taiwan, its threats from united front infiltration into Taiwanese society through cross-strait exchanges, and its threats from
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