A Foggy Tale

Taiwan is in the news.  China claims it for their own and most of the rulers of the world acknowledge that, but also hope it can retain its independence from the juggernaut.  We look at Russia trying to bring Ukraine back to its fold and wonder what signals American indifference sends to the Bhinces.  We now are watching Iran fighting back against the American/Israeli onslaught with ties to both China an Russia and how that will effect Taiwan's situation.  

Taiwan as we know it today, resulted when the ROC (Republic of China) lost against the Communist party and retreated to Taiwan.  Initially they were a dictatorship under Chiang Kai-Shek.  Protecting their sovereignty required a tight control that too often resulted in false arrests.  China is a prolific source of misinformation, hoping to gain credibility in their quest to force Taiwan into their control.

"A Foggy Tale" tries to give a little humanity to an awkward time in their history.  In about the year 1953 we see a young girl, Yue (guessing late elementary grades or early secondary) talking with an older brother Yun in a sugar cane field and soon a group of soldiers chases after him.  Shortly after, his family is notified that he has been executed.  Yue decides she wants to retrieve his body and give it a dignified burial.

She walks from a small town to the capital city, Tapei.  She is trapped, kidnapped and set to be sold likely to a brothel.  Yue is rescued by a rickshaw driver Kumog-dao who had suspected foul play.  It turns out he is a former Nationalist soldier who fled to Taiwan, but felt he had been poorly treated.   The two pair together and soon Yue is able to reunite with an older sister, Hsiah, a performer at a live show.  Eventually they are able to get through an obstructive bureaucracy.  

It may seem like a spoiler, but there is no mystery that her brother is dead to let you know he is located.  To give you a feeling of how unfeeling the authorities can be, the brother's body is with several other executed victims in a pool and a steady stern faced man brings him out using a stick.

The value of the story is not so much the plot, but the people who lived through a time they would all like to forget.  In the closing we are told of the fate of not only of the key individuals, but also how Taiwan progressed to a modern democracy.

Before leaving, you deserve a bit of an explanation about the title.  When Yun is talking to his sister in the field he tells her a story about two drops of water who aspired to help the earth.  They evaporate and end up as clouds.  From there they rain down.  Towards the end of the film the older sister Hsiah tells Yue she received a letter from their brother Yun that gives another version of the story about the two drops of water.  They also become part of the clouds, but instead of rain they come down as foggy mist.  The story serves as a metaphor about the misty view of that history.

"A Foggy Tale" won a lot of awards not only in Taiwan, but beyond.  Below are a few of the contributors.

Yu-Hsun Chen was the director and writer.  After his initial film making he decided to get out and concentrated on advertising, particularly tv. commercials for about 13 years.  He also did a few music videos.  He has 9 writing credits, 8 for directing and 6 for acting.  

Lu Luming composed the music score.  Up through college he played and wrote for a number of music bands.  He studied applied mathematics and got a job coaching math, but was unhappy.  His older sister Jenny Lu was a film director based in London and suggested he consider writing film scores.  He then went to London to study music at Kingston University and afterwards decided to go back to Taiwan.  He found it difficult to get film scores at first and wrote for pop music.  Eventually Lu won awards and at one of them he dedicated the award for the Hong Kong protesters of 2019.  He now has 28 credits for composing, 2 for the music department and 1 for the sound department, including "The Falls" (2021).  

Chen Chi-wen was the cinematographer.  He has 28 cinematography credits and 1for assistant directing.

Lai Hsiu-hsiung was the editor.  He has over 8 editor credits including  "A Sun" (2019) and "The Falls" (2019).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/08/taiwan.html which covers several other films referred to in this post.

Caitlin Fang played Yue.  She was born in the U.S. but returned to Taiwan at age 2.  She has since decided to study at Columbia University.  Caitlin has 8 acting credits including for "American Girl" (2021).  

Will Or played Kung-Dao, the veteran and rickshaw driver.  Born in Hong Kong.  He has 31 acting credits and 1 for producing.

9m88, the stage name for Joanne Tang Yu-chi played Hsiah, the older sister.  She is better known as a singer and song writer with several albums to her name.  She had a fashion design major at college, but at age 25 studied at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.  9m88 has 8 acting credits and 1 for the music department including "Light the Night" (2021).

Jing Hoa-Tseng played Yun, the older brother who was executed.  He has 18 acting credits including "Light the Night" (2021).

Chen Yi-wen played a secret agent who harassed Kung-Dao.  He was a director who once did a short film that cost NT$3,000 to produce, but earned over NT$600,000 that early in his career helped finance other activities.  He has 49 acting credits, 5 directing credits and 3 for writing including one of my favourites last year, "Forget You Not" (2025).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2025/06/forget-you-not-something-from-taiwan.html

Taiwan has struck me as being a major film producer.  "A Foggy Tale" gives a little about their days of martial rule, but with some humanity.  Available on Netflix with subtitles.  

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  The two links cover a lot of interesting and engaging films.