Several documentaries made over the past year have examined the legacy of World War II. Song of the Reed (蘆葦之歌), for example, chronicles women who were forced into sexual slavery during the war, while Wansei Back Home (灣生回家) sheds light on the lives of Japanese citizens born in Taiwan during the colonial period from 1895 to 1945.
At first glance, The Rocking Sky appears to be just another version of the first generation of Chinese air force pilots who were trained to fight against imperial Japan’ superior forces.
On closer look, however, director Chang Chao-wei (張釗維) and his crew offer rare insight into the past through interviews with 40 surviving pilots and their relatives in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. Personal narratives are brought to the forefront through letters, poems, photographs and interviews.
Photo courtesy of CNEX Studio Corporation
The filmmakers emphasize the role of women, revealing the cruelty of war through the eyes of female writers and academics who lived through the period.
While the choice of female writers gives the film a pronounced literary tone, actor Chin Shih-chieh (金士傑) brings further nuance to the film’s emotional core as the off-screen narrator.
The Rocking Sky begins in 1932, just after the Republic of China founded the Central Aviation School in Jianqiao, Hangzhou, in anticipation of an all-out war with Japan. Upon entering the academy, one would see the school’s motto, which reads: “Our bodies, planes and bombs shall perish along with the enemies’ troops, vessels and fortifications.”
Photo courtesy of CNEX Studio Corporation
“No other aviation school in the world would have a motto like this,” the off-screen narrator says.
During the Second Sino-Japanese war, 1,700 Chinese pilots took to the skies, and among them, every six out of 10 gave their lives during the early phase of the war.
The film delves into the lives of celebrated pilots and their heroic deeds.
Photo courtesy of CNEX Studio Corporation
Through the memoir by Chi Pang-yuan (齊邦媛), a prominent Taiwanese author, the struggle of pilot Chang Ta-fei (張大飛) as he faced death on a daily basis quietly emerges. A close friend of Chi’s family, Chang once mentioned to the then young writer that he could never forget the expression of panic on the face of a Japanese pilot he shot down.
After a good friend went on a mission and never returned, Chang wrote to Chi, and said that he knew he would be next.
“I pray and meditate. I feel peace in my heart,” he said.
The pilot was killed during a mission at the age of 26.
By the end of the war, over 4,000 Chinese pilots had perished. Asking what this figure actually means, the film cites a poem by academic Lin Hui-yin (林徽因), who had become a mother figure to eight young pilots, all killed during the war.
Lin’s poem, spoken with real feeling by film director and actress Sylvia Chang (張艾嘉), ends with the following lament:
“You are still just a child but there is nothing that you haven’t given. Millions of people have already forgotten. For whom you have died for?”
The Taipei Times last week reported that the Control Yuan said it had been “left with no choice” but to ask the Constitutional Court to rule on the constitutionality of the central government budget, which left it without a budget. Lost in the outrage over the cuts to defense and to the Constitutional Court were the cuts to the Control Yuan, whose operating budget was slashed by 96 percent. It is unable even to pay its utility bills, and in the press conference it convened on the issue, said that its department directors were paying out of pocket for gasoline
On March 13 President William Lai (賴清德) gave a national security speech noting the 20th year since the passing of China’s Anti-Secession Law (反分裂國家法) in March 2005 that laid the legal groundwork for an invasion of Taiwan. That law, and other subsequent ones, are merely political theater created by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to have something to point to so they can claim “we have to do it, it is the law.” The president’s speech was somber and said: “By its actions, China already satisfies the definition of a ‘foreign hostile force’ as provided in the Anti-Infiltration Act, which unlike
Mirror mirror on the wall, what’s the fairest Disney live-action remake of them all? Wait, mirror. Hold on a second. Maybe choosing from the likes of Alice in Wonderland (2010), Mulan (2020) and The Lion King (2019) isn’t such a good idea. Mirror, on second thought, what’s on Netflix? Even the most devoted fans would have to acknowledge that these have not been the most illustrious illustrations of Disney magic. At their best (Pete’s Dragon? Cinderella?) they breathe life into old classics that could use a little updating. At their worst, well, blue Will Smith. Given the rapacious rate of remakes in modern
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
RSS