Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale

[Anonymous]

The issue of imperialism, colonization, appropriation of others' natural resources is reprehensible and it has been common practice by the more industrialized powers in disguise, that initially infiltrate developing countries vulnerable to horrific acts of human rights violations.

[Anonymous]

I thought it was a wonderful movie too. If I have time, I'd show the whole movie to the class so that they can compare social conditions before and after colonization which served as impetus for rebellion and/or compliance.

I think a debate is a wonderful tool for this topic. I would assume that most of the class will take the stand for rebellion (the movie is very persuasive of this point of view) and not compliance. Therefore, I'd select a few high-achievers or give extra credit for those that are willing to take a stand for being compliant with foreign colonizers. The movie showed disagreements among the Seedig people regarding rebellion so I would piggy back on these few tribes and develop a rationale for their compliance.

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Title: Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale
Director and Screenwriter: Wei Te-Sheng
Producer: John Woo
The film that I watched for this class was “Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale” This was a wonderful film which depicted the 19th century Japanese invasion of indigenous Seediq lands in what is today Taiwan. Because the lands were very rich in natural resources, the imperialist Japanese wanted to take them over to expand their empire.
After a couple of failed rebellions in 1920 and 1925, several tribes conspired to revolt in order to kick out the Japanese colonialists. The subjugation of their people was simply too much and their proud history of a hunting people allowed them to launch what appeared to be a successful revolt. However, when the Japanese retaliated, they reverted back to heavy repression and the mass killing of the Seediq people.
As a teacher, this is a great film for my students to watch because it is very similar to other examples of colonization and also of indigenous resistance. The students will be able to debate whether an armed rebellion was the most strategic thing to do or if perhaps a negotiated retreat would have been a smarter way of preserving their culture, even though it would mean the loss of their ancestral homelands. I plan on showing clips of this film to the students and having discussions where they will be able to compare the resistance of the Seediq people to the anti-colonial resistance of other indigenous peoples from around the world.

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