This could've gone either way. It was one of those cases where we just wanted to go to the movies, and I'd rather have white hot needles inserted under my fingernails than go and see Alice in Wonderland (does Tim Burton have a problem with making "proper" movies?)
Japan originally acquired Taiwan (aka Formosa) from the Qing Empire in 1895, but was ordered to renounce all claims to sovereignty over its colonial possessions after World War II.
In 1945, governance of Formosa / Taiwan was therefore taken over by the Republic of China. Four years later Chiang Kai Shek's Republic lost the Chinese Civil War to the Chairman Mao-led Communist Party and retreated from mainland China to Taiwan.
The political status of Taiwan is complex because it's claimed by the People's Republic of China which was established in 1949 on mainland China and considers itself the successor state to the Republic.
Them's the basic facts. Now, why was Formosa "betrayed"?
Accepting that the film is honorably biased, it shows how Formosans have been screwed by their proximity to China, whether it was when 80 million native Taiwanese were repressed by 2 million Chinese immigrants, or how their own government, paranoid about spies from mainland China, developed into a police state.
Political science aside, was it a good movie? Kinda. It was more of a rousing history lesson than a thriller - even though it aspired to the latter.
The evening was capped by dinner at Straits Cafe, with Dave Chappelle sat alone at the next table. He didn't laugh at any of my jokes!
Political science aside, was it a good movie? Kinda. It was more of a rousing history lesson than a thriller - even though it aspired to the latter.
The evening was capped by dinner at Straits Cafe, with Dave Chappelle sat alone at the next table. He didn't laugh at any of my jokes!
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