LeonLouisRicci So Much History in such a Little Movie is the Problem with this Well Intentioned "Mind Opener". It Wants so Badly to Inform that it Overloads its Message with Everything and Anything Concerning the Recent and Not So Recent History of Taiwan, Formerly Known as Formosa.The Filmmakers are Noticeably Nervous here as it Tries with its Low Budget and B-Movie Actors to Concoct a Watchable, Intriguing, Fact-Based Story in the Form of a Political Thriller. It Somewhat Succeeds but the End Result is a lot Less Successful and Fitting for the Very Serious Subject Matter.A Documentary would have been a Better way to get the History Lesson across to the Apathetic and Uninformed because this is just so much Low-Budget Muddle the Lesson is Buried Among the Rubble of a Condensed and Complicated Story Fit. The Taiwanese Situation During the Cold War was an Important History Concerning Communism, Police States, and China's Mainland Bullying of the Little Island and are all Historically Important Deserving a Much Clearer Exposition and Explanation. Something Like this is just too Easily Dismissed and Therefore an Almost Wasted Effort.

Michael Turton Spoilers ahead! In Formosa Betrayed producer and writer Will Tiao, a second-generation Taiwanese-American, offers us an unsettling yet emotionally gripping account of an American FBI agent (James van der Beek) accidentally thrust into a 1980s Taiwan in the grip of a police state nightmare, in hot pursuit of gangster hit men. Drawing in elements of police state conspiracy/political thrillers such as Hidden Agenda and Missing, Formosa Betrayed will also call to mind The Killing Fields.Formosa Betrayed opens with its bloody, shocking ending and is told in a series of flashbacks, returning again and again to the ending, then bouncing back to some point in the past to further elaborate. Like Agent Jake Kelly, the viewer has to immerse herself in the tale for a while before she finds a foothold in it. And like Agent Kelly, the viewer will find that much has been learned before the exit is reached.Back in 1983 when the idea that the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan was Free China still lingered like sewer stink on a Taipei street, Agent Kelly finds himself going to Taiwan due to a murder at a university in the US. A Taiwanese economic professor there has been killed in an unsubtle professional hit by gangsters. Sent to Taiwan to "assist" in the investigation though knowing nothing about the island, Kelly is met by Susan Kane (Wendy Crewson), who describes the ROC in glowing 1950s stereotypes of pro- and anti-Communism. While van der Beek does great work, it is Crewson's uncompromising ability to filter out the slightest rationality or sympathy from her character that in my opinion is the best acting job in this movie; she is the foil who enables van der Beek to credibly -- and understatedly -- portray the FBI agent with a conscience. The final shot of her in the movie is brilliant.The remainder of the supporting cast consists of experienced actors who turn in excellent performances. James Heard is especially enjoyable as Tom Braxton, Jake Kelly's shallow mentor. Director Adam Kane does outstanding work despite a modest $8 million budget.Aside from Susan Kane, Kelly moves through the mystery of 1980s Taiwan entirely without a foreign guide. Instead, he meets a series of Taiwanese who draw him ever more deeply into the authoritarian reality that lies behind the facade of ROC sophistication and Free China "democracy". The beauty of this approach is that it leaves Kelly, like the movie-goer, alone to fish for his own truths in this sea of competing representations of Taiwan. Though Formosa Betrayed is conventionally described as a thriller that also introduces some of the issues of Taiwan democracy and independence, and may certainly be enjoyed and understood that way, it is much more than that. What Tiao has done in this film is offered a homage to the history of Taiwan's democratization and the people who died to make it possible. Thus, the film presents not "real" history, but allegorized, sacred history. In the shooting of Professor Henry Wen, Tiao makes a double reference to the killer of writer Henry Liu in the US in 1984 by Taiwan gangsters, and to the killing of Professor Chen Wen-chen in 1980 under interrogation in Taipei. Viewers will also see a reference to the murder of activist Lin Yi-hsiung's mother and daughters in 1980. The film depicts a trip to the southern port city of Kaohsiung, where Kelly falls in with a peaceful democracy protest that is brutally assaulted by ROC troops, a clear reference to the watershed Kaohsiung Incident of 1979, in which a massive pro-democracy protest was attacked by the police. The brief reference to the Presbyterian Church recalls that it was a famous supporter of the democracy movement in Taiwan. Even the title, which refers to George Kerr's famous book of the same name, draws the reader into the beginnings of that world, to the 1947 massacre of thousands of Taiwanese who had risen up in revolt against the government, including the systematic killings of educated locals. Knowledgeable viewers will have many issues with its overwrought portrait of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) police state, though that is probably necessary for American audiences. The pro-KMT types are recognizable types, no doubt another necessity. Yet it should also be recalled, when the ROC officials smear Professor Wen (ridiculously) as a Moriarity-style gangster mastermind, that such claims were SOP for KMT disinformation campaigns. Recall too that during propaganda drive during the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident, claiming that 180 police but no protesters were injured. If what happens in the movie sounds stilted to certain US critics, it is probably because they lack experience with just how absurdly transparent such propaganda can be.But remember: if the politics get in the way, you can still sit down with that gargantuan tub of popcorn and an oversize coke that could water a small farm, kick back in front of the big screen, and spend a couple of hours savoring a solid, enjoyable thriller with some great moments of humor and pathos, enough blood to give it an "R" rating, and -- like Taiwan itself -- a shrouded, unsettled finish.Michael Turton

[email protected] It is wonderful to see a film about the heroic struggle of the people of Taiwan for democracy and independence, even if I and my wife were the only people in theater at a 7:20 p.m. Saturday showing on the day of its release in Michigan. Unfortunately, the best thing I can say for it is that the backstory is basically true - there was a Taiwanese-American murdered in the U.S. by a Taiwanese gang, apparently at the instigation of Republic of China's government, possibly because he had embarrassed it by writing an unflattering biography of then R.O.C. President Chiang Ching-Kuo, and the atrocities portrayed in the film did largely happen, albeit at different times and under different circumstances. The film systematically garbles and almost trivializes a series of horrible crimes against the Taiwanese which actually occurred over a period of years by making virtually every crime of the late KMT period seem to occur within the same week as part of an effort to stymie an FBI investigation of the murder. Equally annoying was the gross parody of how actual criminal investigations in foreign countries are conducted. U.S. criminal investigators abroad always at least appear to cooperate (and show respect for) their foreign counterparts even when they suspect, as is often the case, that they are less than enthusiastic about the investigation. No FBI agent is going to charge into a foreign government's takedown of a suspect, and fight his way past a army of armed soldiers to try to get to the perpetrator first. The agent's other activities in the film are equally preposterous, going way beyond "cowboyish" to simply suicidal, both for himself and his informants. In short, the film provides a very garbled overview of recent Taiwanese history combined with the most absurd portrayal of a U.S. overseas criminal investigation since Rush Hour.

filmlover333 I enjoyed this film immensely. A political thriller that delivers. Set in Taiwan in the early 1980s this Cold War drama depicts little known yet all too real events of that era. Great action too. James Van Der Beek in the role of FBI agent Jake Kelly was outstanding - a mature performance. Will Tiao performance was equally brilliant - very moving. The film, as a whole, displays a fantastic cast.Not surprisingly, the cinematography was stunning - an absolute feast for the eyes - Adam Kane better known for spending his time behind the camera - has done a great job in this, his directorial debut.