Happiness Road

Seen this touching animation last week and found it to be very well done and with a story that brings some thoughts about . . . LIFE . The main character , Lin Shu-Chi is shown from her childhood up to her adult years in flashbacks that show us the relationship of the girl with her relatives , specially her granny , a wise old lady and with her parents and her schoolmates . Being a dreamer at first , she soon befriends a newcomer to the class , Chuang Betty , the daughter of a foreigner pilot and soon they become the best of friends . Lin's granny was a strong and down to earth woman , so was her mother but her dad was another story , always hoping to become rich with loto tickets . Lin's adventures go on with her playmates and , as the years pass by we see how she loses contact with her former self - the imaginative little girl that she once was . Years later , she must take a trip back to her old neighbohood and finds how much things have changed , some for better and some for worse and reunites with some of her old friends and family members . I will not tell the whole story here , but I insist that you go se this movie if possible . When you go , take someone you love with you . It's a little charming , touching , sometimes pathetic but very good story that can tell something about us all in the end . And then you may think a bit and come with a proper response to Lin's first question : " What is happiness ? "

This film is about life, about Taiwanese life. The songs the kids sing, the stuff relatives talk about when one comes home, or the political debates and turmoils that defined generations of Taiwanese people, are all part of that life. It does a phenomenal job depicting what everyone had to go through in order to achieve their dreams or watch themselves fail. If you wish to know what it feels like to be an ordinary person growing up in 70s Taiwan and beyond, watch this.

Source: am Taiwanese.

Seen this touching animation last week and found it to be very well done and with a story that brings some thoughts about . . . LIFE . The main character , Lin Shu-Chi is shown from her childhood up to her adult years in flashbacks that show us the relationship of the girl with her relatives , specially her granny , a wise old lady and with her parents and her schoolmates . Being a dreamer at first , she soon befriends a newcomer to the class , Chuang Betty , the daughter of a foreigner pilot and soon the become the best of friends . Lin's granny was a strong and down to earth woman , so was her mother but her dad was another story , always hoping to become rich with loto tickets . Lin's adventures go on with her playmates and , as the years pass by we see how she loses contact with her former self - the imaginative little girl that she once was . Years later , she must take a trip back to her old neighbohood and finds how much things have changed , some for better and some for worse and reunites with some of her old friends and family members . I will not tell the whole story here , but I insist that you go se this movie if possible . When you go , take someone you love with you . It's a little charming , touching , sometimes pathetic but very good story that can tell something about us all in the end . And then you may think a bit and come with a proper response to Lin's first question : " What is happiness ? "

I registered just to write about this movie. I saw it a couple of days ago and it still amazes me. Incredible animation that translates emotions into shapes and colours, and a story that mixes with great sensitivity and depth the recent history of Taiwan and the most universal story: the search for happiness and our place in the world. You have to see this!!

Perhaps only people who speak the Min Nan dialect will truly understand how heartfelt this film is. The price of such authenticity is that much is lost in translation. Even a Taiwanese, many of whom do not speak Min Nan, may not fully appreciate how much of the filmmaker's soul was poured into this movie.

The thematic scope was particular in that it was a very personal point of view; but also very broad because it was a grand sweep through the many social and political upheavals that an individual would have lived through in Taiwan. The film was not only ambitious in its scope, it also tried to reach a philosophical depth that movies rarely attain. So much so that I wondered if the filmmakers had overreached? Hence a 9 instead of a 10. But I am a little ambivalent about my rating and would on a different day rate it a 10. Perhaps if they only delved a little deeper into the many thorny issues that had been thrown up... But the film is already nearly 2 hours long, so I do wonder if that is reasonable at all.

Even if you do not speak Min Nan, this film is still a valuable window into Taiwan. No matter how it is translated, you will probably will not understand all of it. Keep that in mind if you choose to watch it. And I highly recommend that you do.