Beyond Beauty is excellent. It is a work of love, sincerity and pride on the land of Taiwan. On the surface it looks like a BBC or National Geographic production. Shot in HD with mostly aerial shots, Beyond Beauty is almost a moving physical geography textbook or a tourism promotion clip showing the stunning and therapeutic natural wonders of Taiwan, a beauty we have never experienced because of the different perspective from the sky.
What distinguishes this local production from the global documentaries, however, is the exposure of the saddening consequences of economic development – in agriculture, mining, fishing, manufacturing and tourism - which result in pollution and imbalance in the environment and climate change. It is red flagging us to pause and examine our priorities – it challenges what we have been doing to improve our lives and its threat in leaving a sustainable land and lifestyle for our descendants. The film also cites some examples of a few villagers who refuse to be developed/ modernized. Instead, they stick with organic farming to preserve the land for the generations to come.
The dilemma of economic development vs environment protection probably exists in every country, regardless of their level of development. With powerful images of the soothing natural beauty contrasting the horrifying man-made damages laying in front of us, Beyond Beauty presents an alarming and overwhelming wakeup call for all mankind to care for our earth after making us so proud of our resources.
The music performed by the Prague Symphony Orchestra perfectly highlights the masculine landscape while exemplifying the passion of the producers. When the film begins to depict the downside of recent economic development and its consequences, the music also follow suit.
The sporadic yet compelling narration let the visuals tell the convincing story. I think it is more powerful than Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Highly recommended.
What distinguishes this local production from the global documentaries, however, is the exposure of the saddening consequences of economic development – in agriculture, mining, fishing, manufacturing and tourism - which result in pollution and imbalance in the environment and climate change. It is red flagging us to pause and examine our priorities – it challenges what we have been doing to improve our lives and its threat in leaving a sustainable land and lifestyle for our descendants. The film also cites some examples of a few villagers who refuse to be developed/ modernized. Instead, they stick with organic farming to preserve the land for the generations to come.
The dilemma of economic development vs environment protection probably exists in every country, regardless of their level of development. With powerful images of the soothing natural beauty contrasting the horrifying man-made damages laying in front of us, Beyond Beauty presents an alarming and overwhelming wakeup call for all mankind to care for our earth after making us so proud of our resources.
The music performed by the Prague Symphony Orchestra perfectly highlights the masculine landscape while exemplifying the passion of the producers. When the film begins to depict the downside of recent economic development and its consequences, the music also follow suit.
The sporadic yet compelling narration let the visuals tell the convincing story. I think it is more powerful than Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Highly recommended.
