The documentary offers personal insights into the Second Sino-Japanese war through the stories of China’s first generation of air force pilots
Taipei Times
Date: Dec 11, 2015
By: Ho Yi / Staff reporter
Several documentaries made over the past year have examined the legacy of
The Rocking Sky relies on animation to visualize the past. Photo courtesy of CNEX Studio Corporation
World War II. Song of the Reed (蘆葦之歌), for example, chronicles women who were forced into sexual slavery during the war, while Wansei Back Home (灣生回家) sheds light on the lives of Japanese citizens born in Taiwan during the colonial period from 1895 to 1945.
At first glance, The Rocking Sky appears to be just another version of the first generation of Chinese air force pilots who were trained to fight against imperial Japan’ superior forces.
Former pilot Li Chi-hsien passed away at age 102 in August and didn’t get to see the documentary in the theater.
Photo courtesy of CNEX Studio Corporation
On closer look, however, director Chang Chao-wei (張釗維) and his crew offer rare insight into the past through interviews with 40 surviving pilots and their relatives in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. Personal narratives are brought to the forefront through letters, poems, photographs and interviews. [FULL STORY]
