Twenty years ago, I watched Baraka
(1992) directed by Ron Fricke, a non-narrative documentary film that portrays
images from urban and rural lives of different cultures. In the film, religious
images such as Sufi whirling, the Wailing Wall, Zen monks in meditation and
Balinese Kecak ritual are intertwined with images from daily life. Though there
was no word or linear line of story delivered through the film, the images and
music which was beautifully composed were able to move me in a way that I was
drawn to a timeless world, and started to reflect upon the existence of being.
Similar feelings were triggered this time as I watched Beyond Beauty, a documentary film which shows Taiwan from an aerial
view, and yet there was a difference. I was initially drawn into the timeless world, but was brought to a sorrowful sense of reality after the first half of
the film with the director Chi Po-Lin’s concerns for environmental issues that
Taiwan is facing, visuals depicting the destructions the nature is going
through, music carefully created by Ricky Ho to suit the moods and
development of plot, and voice-over narration delivered by Wu Nien-jen with a deep and
earnest voice which carried with it a sense of urgency at the same time.
The film begins with portraying the beauty of
natural landscapes which at times glitter and at times resemble Chinese ink
paintings. The contours, shapes and textures of the natural landscape move like
a dance composition as viewers are brought to view them from a bird’s-eye view.
The music is majestic and gives the sense of wide expanse in most segments, and
yet not losing a magnetic allurement that touches one’s heart. The subtlety of
lights, reflections, and winds are captured to portray a series of movement—
the movement of wind, the movement of nature, the movement of camera, and the
movement of musical notes.
Just when I thought that the film
would go on and on to dwell on the "beauty" of Taiwan, a twist is made with a
shot of heavy rain and storm which caused floods over the farmlands. From the
erratic climate condition which is highly unpredictable, the narrator brings
us to the attention of other environmental issues. The soil of the highlands,
which was once held by the strongly rooted trees, are now grounds for
agriculture and bungalows. While Taiwan is developing economically, the tragedy
that follows is the losing of the natural flow of life, landscapes and nature. The
removal of mountain trees leads to the possible danger of landslides; illegal
sand and gravel mining takes place on the island that is sinking;
industrialization brings about pollution of land, water and air.
Throughout the film, the intrusion
of the tourists which leads to the rapid development of tourism and ruin of
the natural landscape is emphasized. As I was viewing the film, I shifted from
the position of a "comfortable viewer" to that of a "guilty viewer". I was as if peeping into the
landscapes of Taiwan as a tourist, and witnessing the deterioration that has
been caused by me. The film, which begins with portraying the beauty of Taiwan,
turns into a critical commentary about environmental issues faced by the
country. In fact, these are universal problems faced by the modern society
collectively. The film transported me from a utopian state to the harsh reality
which unveiled before me.
The film ends with a group of
aboriginal children in red, singing on the mountain peak. While the scene is
interpreted by many as "hope", it also suggests that ultimately, humans are
still in control of nature and have the power to shape their landscapes.
Rating: 9/10
