4. Analysis of On the Happiness Road
4.8 Collective Memory
國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
4.8 Collective Memory
The director inserted many Taiwanese elements inside the story of On the Happiness Road. She foreshadowed what is going to happen in the beginning in the items beside the waterway such as Chi’s schoolbag, the furniture and the Christmas decorations (Figure 4.72). There are also many Taiwanese traditional cultural elements in the story to call up people’s nostalgic feeling of that era.
Figure 4.72 The Christmas decoration beside the waterway
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.73 Hsu Sheng-en was doing religious ritual
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
For instance, Hsu Sheng-en was doing the religious ritual as ‘tongji’(乩童) who was believed to convey god’s will. In the film, people waited for the given numbers to buy the lottery from his message. It showed the traditional religion of the local people.
People believed in spiritual mediums who would predict the Patriotic Lottery numbers (Figure 4.73). It was the activity that people like when they have extra money. Chi’s father was also indulged in the lottery (Figure 4.74). Some people played the lottery, whereas some bet on the pigeon race (Figure 4.75). In those days, Taiwanese love gambling and believed it as a way to get rich. In the time of Taiwan Miracle, making money becomes easy and it’s easy to get rich overnight or bankruptcy overnight.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 4.74 Chi’s mother scolded Chi’s father spent money on lottery (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.75 Hsu Sheng-en, Betty and Chi let go of pigeons
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
The director arranged many items in the background to evoke the collective memory of the generation on purpose. In the following, I make the comparison of these nostalgic items and how it presented in reality. For example, there is the Tatung’s doll in Chi’s living room (Figure 4.76). Tatung is the most well-known manufacturer of household electronic appliances in Taiwan. Almost every Taiwanese’s house has one electronic product of Tatung.
Figure 4.76 The Tatung’s Doll in Chi’s living room
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.77 Tatung’s doll and the automatic cooker
(Screenshot from EBC news)
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
The director also put various entertaining items in 1970s to 1990s such as is the TV programs Five Lights Award (Figure 4.78), the comedian Chu Ko-liang (豬哥亮) (Figure 4.80), the poster of music group Little Tigers (小虎隊) in Betty’s room (Figure 4.82), Fong Fei-fei’s songs and Chen Hsing-yu said she likes to watch the dramas of Hong Kong singer Andy Lau (劉德華)(Figure 4.83).
Figure 4.78 Five Lights Award on TV’s screen
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.79 Five Lights Award (Screenshot from udn)
Figure 4.80 The comedian Chu Ko-liang on TV
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.81 Chu Ko-liang (Screenshot from TVBS)
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 4.82 The Little Tigers’ poster on the wall in Betty’s room
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.83 Chen Hsing-yu said she likes to watch Andy Lau’s drama (Screenshot from On the Happiness
Road)
Additionally, the director linked the audience’s emotion by fully presenting the actual places in Taiwan. Most of them are the renowned places that people can recognize at once such as the Taipei Main Station (Figure 4.84& 4.85), the Presidential Palace (Figure 4.86& 4.87), Lotus Pond Lianchihtan in Kaohsiung (Figure 4.88& 4.89), Drainage ditch in Xinzhuang (Figure 4.90 & 4.91) and cram school street (Figure 4.92
& 4.93).
Figure 4.84 Betty passed through Taipei Main Station
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.85 Taipei Main Station (Screenshot from Travel King website)
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Figure 4.86 Chi and her classmate ran in front of the Presidential Palace (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.87 Presidential Palace (Screenshot from travel Taipei website )
Figure 4.88 Chi’s grandfather took Chi’s father from Liuqui to Kaohsiung (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.89 Lotus Pond Lianchihtan in Kaohsiung
(Screenshot from official website of On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.90 Drainage ditch where Chi used to play near her home
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.91 Drainage ditch in Xinzhuang (Screenshot from official website of On
the Happiness Road)
‧
Figure 4.92 Chi walked through the cram school street near the Taipei Station (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.93 Cram school street near the Taipei Station
(Screenshot from official website of On the Happiness Road)
In addition, the director invokes the concept of intertextuality in this movie. For instance, the scar left on Wen’s forehead by the reason of against Garrison Command was in the shape of lightning (Figure 4.94). It referred to the renowned character who also had the lightning scar on his forehead was Harry Potter (Figure 4.95). Both of them were suffering from the pain by the name that couldn’t be told.
Figure 4.94 Lightning scar on Wen’s forehead (Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.95 Harry showed the lightning scar on his forehead to Ron (Screenshot from Harry Potter
and the Philosopher’s Stone)
Chi had a psychological projection of herself in the end scene of The Graduate (1967)(畢業生) on TV(Figure 4.96). After she graduated from NTU, she was confused about her life in the future. Just like the main character Benjamin in The Graduate who was lost and didn’t know what he should do after his graduation from the college. He just wanted to be different, but didn’t know where to go. In the end scene of The Graduate, Benjamin and Elaine seemed not to be full of happiness even they ran out of the wedding together (Figure 4.97).
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
The setting was the 1960s in The Graduate which was also the time Cold War and Vietnam War, and movement for women's rights happened in the U.S. On the other hand, Chi faced with the social movement in the 1990s in Taiwan. Both of them were eager to become a different person with their parents. Ben got the expectation and pressure from his family and said, “I have this feeling ever since I graduated. This kind of compulsion that I have to be rude all the time. They’re being made up by all the wrong people. I mean no one makes them up. They seem to make themselves up.”
People are trapped by the rules and forced to follow the mainstream choices, in the end, they lost the ability to dream about the future. Chi also unconsciously tried to behave herself well under the expectation of her family and society.
Figure 4.96 Chi watched The Graduate on TV
(Screenshot from On the Happiness Road)
Figure 4.97 Benjamin and Elaine on the bus after running away from the wedding
(Screenshot from The Graduate)
Overall, Chi’s early experiences encapsulate the era perfectly. From reconstructing these histories, politics, economy and cultural elements in Taiwan, the director expected the audience to recall their collective memory in the past. On the Happiness Road
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
connected with the growing path of Taiwan and Chi’s life. The audience further identify a part of themselves in the story and rethink their relationship with the island they grow up.