I first saw The Life of Pi about two months ago during my Christmas break. While I found the plot line to be a little far fetched that a human and a tiger could survive in a lifeboat together for months on end, I still found the story to be visually and emotionally captivating. I am an aspiring film designer, so I find interest in not only American movies, but also films from other cultures. I knew that The Life of Pi had been filmed in a studio as well as some remote area, but I had no idea that it was filmed in Taichung Taiwan! My East Asian Studies professor, Dr. Kingsbury, sent our class a link to an insightful article on the film's director Ang Lee, why he chose to film in Taiwan, and interesting things that the cast and crew did while they were there. http://www.taiwaninsights.com/tag/3d-water-studio/
one of the interesting parallels that I drew in the article was between Taichung and Pittsburgh as locations for films. Over the last several years Pittsburgh has been a hub for filmmaking due to the tax credits that films can get for shooting here. Therefore, we have had many big movies that have filmed here such as Batman, The Perks of Being a Wall Flower, and The Promised Land. The article intrigued me to find out more about Taichung's relation to the film industry in Taiwan and if other films have been shot in this particular city. Also, the article mentions the state of the art wave pool studio that was built for The Life of Pi. In addition to this studio I was wondering if the film makers used any outdoor locations in Taiwan, particularly near the city of Taichung.
Life of Pi is a hit in Taiwan right now . Although i haven't watched the movie yet but i'm so proud of Ang Lee after he won Oscar. I'm living in Taichung for studying but i'm from Taipei. Taichung is a magical place which full of artistic buildings and stores, it's totally different from the modern city. I always feel relaxed and comfortable here. You probably should come to visit Taichung .
ReplyDeleteI am very excited to come and visit Taichung. Especially since you said that it is an artsy city. Where are your favorite places to shop in Taichung? We will be spending the last couple days of our trip in Taipei, so if you have any suggestions for things to do their I would appreciate it. I really like to do things outdoors like biking, hiking, and that kind of stuff. Do you have any favorite parks that are close by the city?
DeleteAs a Taiwanese, I feel ashamed that I know nothing about the relationship between Taichung and film industry. But I can tell you something about Taiwan national film.
ReplyDeleteBefore, Taiwan didn’t care much about national film, however “ Cape No. 7” is a turning point. Cape No.7 was directed from Te-Sheng Wei, a Taiwanese director, is a romantic film shoot in Kenting. After this film, Taiwan start to pay more attention in national film and the government start to popularize it. Later on the director Wei’s another film “Seediq Bale” is not only have good box office but be invited to join Venice Film Festival. And Taiwan’s national film start to be prosperous.
Thank you for all of the information on Taiwanese film. I will be going to study production design in Los Angeles this fall at The American Film Institute. I love movies! Our professor let us watch Island Etude in class, and I really liked it. Currently, I am writing a paper for class on Taiwanese film and I watched Cape No. 7. I really liked how it was a romantic and funny movie. Also, you mentioned that it was filmed near Kenting. When I did more research on the film it said that the resort in the movie is supposed to be by a national park. I though that the scenery and cinematography was beautiful. I would love to go there!
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