| Abstract |
Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above is Taiwan’s first full-length film to adopt an aerial approach to depict Taiwan’s human cultural landscapes. This article focuses on the narrative structure of the aerial footage presented in the film and explores how narration and aerial filming intertwine in it. Adopting a “past–present–future” narrative framework, the film portrays Taiwan’s historical development from an uninhabited island to a highly developed country, and discloses current problems due to the environmental destruction caused by this development process, followed by future development directions and expectations. The film offers viewers an appealing visual experience by presenting sequentially circulating aerial footage of the oceans, plains, and mountains of Taiwan, chronically detailing the evolution of Taiwan from an undeveloped natural environment to a highly developed country. Through this approach, the film directly exposes the audience to the various types of environmental degradation occurring in Taiwan, prompting them to contemplate their personal connections with the environment and its future outlook. Additionally, the aerial footage emphasizes the multiphase development process of Taiwan’s landscape, connecting present and past landscapes and guiding the audience to imagine future landscapes. By combining a clear and intuitive narrative structure with various forms of artistic expression, including well-organized aerial footage and purposeful image sequencing, the film depicts the past, present, and future of Taiwan’s environment in a holistic manner. In light of this, the director Chi Po-lin prompts the audience to reconsider their perception of and connection with the environment, thus successfully garnering Taiwan citizens’ awareness of environmental issues. |
