Let It Be (無米樂)
Director:
Yen Lan-chuan & Juang Yi-tseng
Genre:
Documentary
Time:
110 min.
Language:
Taiwanese (Hokklo), Mandarin, English subtitles
Rating:
4/5
Let It Be is a documentary on the daily lives of Taiwan’s rice farmers. Hear how these farmers cope with nature, modernization, and their spouses in an honest and oftentimes comical way. The interviews with the rice farmers are mostly in Taiwanese (Southern Min) and the film also highlights many traditional beliefs and cultural practices that have remained unchanged in Taiwanese farming communities for generations. This film is great for looking at Taiwan from an often-ignored and quickly vanishing vantage point: from the muddy shoes of a dedicated rice farmer.
From the back cover…
Taiwan lies around 90km off the southeast coast of China. With much of the island covered by high mountains, most of the 23 million inhabitants live on the scarcer lowland and plain areas. Nevertheless, Taiwan is self-sufficient in many agricultural products, including the staple rice. This remarkable achievement is a credit to the island’s industrious, dedicated rice farmers.
This documentary film, Let It Be, records the everyday labor and lives of three elderly rice farmers in Houbi Township, in the heart of Taiwan’s rice-producing country. It depicts their lifestyles that have changed little over the last half-century, and how they must toil and shed a bead of sweat for each grain they produce. It observes their toils and their approach to life, enabling viewers to appreciate the wisdom that imbues their lives, and the fascinating dynamics of their relationships with each other, their animals, gods, the weather, and the land.
「台灣錢淹腳目」，形容台灣的富裕；我們想發明一個新片語──台灣米淹腳目，來讚譽台灣農業技術的成熟。這個小島，山多平原少，如何滿足兩千三百多萬張嘴呢？做為主要糧食的稻米，台灣不僅自給自足，而且供過於求。有誰想過這是多麼瞭不起的成就呢？一切都要感謝台灣這一群任勞任怨，經耕細作的稻農。
無米樂，紀錄台灣的大米倉之一，台南縣後壁鄉三個老稻農的勞動與生活。一顆顆晶瑩剔透的汗珠和著一粒粒的稻米，陪他們走過了大半個世紀。透過他們的勞動與生活。我們領略到生活的智慧，也意會到人與人、人與動物、人與神、人與天、人與土地，是如何微妙地共生共存著。
