Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale I

I wont say much about this film, but what I will say is this.... I am from England, but I have a huge interest in world cinema as well as action movies from the far East, I have been watching both for over 30 years, so I somewhat understand myths and traditions and folklore from that part of the world. Pretty much on all these accounts the film delivers in bundles, it wont be to everyones tastes, but considering where this film comes from, and what the Director has done it is incredible. You would not get a film like this anymore from Hollywood, the last film I can remember that it really reminded me of is GLORY (for those of you that know it), although that is Hollywood, and this is Taiwanese. They were both unrelenting though. This motion picture saga has...Great landscapes, beautiful haunting tribal folksongs in the soundtrack, and authentic wardrobe and sets, obviously some of the other comments that detract from the film might be fair, but this is a moving and unforgiving four and a half hour epic, where else are you gonna get to see a film like this ?

Red Cliff parts 1 and 2 maybe....but this is a Nobel and Splendid film.

I walked out of the cinema with both surprise and worry. I'm worried because maybe this is not a very good film, especially not a good "commercial film" to make both ends meet, but I'm really glad to see that Te-Sheng Wei can still insist on his idea even in such a big production.

Before going to the theater, my first concern was whether it would become a stereotypical nationalism or humanism film, because The Wushe Incident had been represented so many times in our history class in Taiwan that it seemed to be too difficult to make this film without compromising on political correctness, but Te-Sheng Wei made it！

Sàidékè balái presented a mass of killing and death, not in a humanism or Han Chinese Nationalism way, but from the aspect of the Seediq. I have heard people arguing if it is necessary to have so much violence in this film, but I have to say that the value of peace or anti-war is the main stream nowadays but not so to the traditional Seediq that time. Therefore, I think the director is not a moral relativist, he just chose not to judge the past with today's value, and resisted the mainstream that drowned the voice of the minority.

It impressed me that there was little Chinese or Taiwanese through out this film. Instead, the film is composed of Seediq language and Japanese. We should cherish it that 80 years after the The Wushe Incident, we can finally see a film which represents historical event not based on the authority opinion but on people who didn't lead the history, i.e. the native.

An excellent movie: historical, good action, realistic, in the beautiful nature of the Republic of China, where one learns the raw violence of the eastern races, greater than that of the West.

I agree too. I did some wiki research when I first learn about this film and it is really helpful to get a fuller sense of the theme given a basic historical context. Disclaimer: I have seen the first part only (the second part is in theaters today in HK).

Similar to previous comment, this movie reminds me of the situation in Tibet right now. How the "Han-ization" is happening when the culture and religion in Tibet is slowing disappearing. What would I do if I were one of the young men in the tribes in the movie?

And is this that much different to the change happening to our very own culture (both Eastern and Western) in the face of globalization and extreme consumerism? This is how much the film has provoked me into contemplating.

Also with all the head chopping and fighting scenes the director has successfully illustrates the values and beliefs of life of the tribes without a taint of violence. Yes it's bloody but not violent. Wonder how that is possible right? (This is refreshing in the midst of our media culture on big screens and on TV).

I would not use the word entertaining for this movie but nonetheless it is not as serious/"boring" as the topic and plot might sound. And 144 minutes just flew by without my notice and my 60+ years old parents were actually hoping to watch the second half right after the first.

Definitely a not-to-miss for this year!

First of all it is better to watch the film in full 4.5 hr instead of watching as 2 parts, which is what I did in film fest.

Secondly, you have to know a little of history and tradition of Taiwan and roles of aboriginals to truly have a feeling for the movie. Just Wiki "Wushe Incident", and "Taiwanese Aboriginal" and that makes things much better as you watch.

Anyway back to the film, the selling point seems to be all the killing, the action, the big budget. However after watching it I've found out it's more about the value of "death" that the film tries to bring to us, and death weights in front of abstract values such as "tradition", "dignity", etc.

It's really an entertaining film for sure and throughout the 4.5 hrs time just flies, and you have to adjust yourself to have that desire to discover more about aboriginals believes and ways of living, much like watching documentary films mentality.

I can't stop comparing this "Civilization vs. Barbarian" plot to what is happening in middle east right now. In such sense history is repeating, and the film is definitely pointing out how pointless the loss of lives is (depends on which stand you are taking though).

Overall this is one of the best and most enjoyable films in recent years. The director is trying to lead us to think critically towards topics on death, values, tradition and how these would change when worlds collide.