Fei Tien

Wang Shau-di, one of Taiwan’s most celebrated TV directors who has also acquired fame as writer, documentary-maker and producer, shot Fei Tien, her feature début, in mainland China. The film is an often whimsical, but always human and moving portrait of hard times at the end of the Ching Dynasty, ravaged by famine and rebellion. The poor and starving section of the urban population was hidden away by the corrupt government in reservations in barren areas, so-called Villages of Thieves, where a vicious circle of poverty and crime arose. Some inhabitants offered to take the place of condemned criminals in jail; in exchange they were given illegal favours. The childrenin these villages learned survival techniques such as begging, stealing, deception and the basics of the martial arts. The children Xia-dou and Ji-dan live in such a Village of Thieves. They are sent out to steal exam papers and also take some gold for themselves. The local governor threatens to massacre the whole village to prevent anyone finding out he was involved in the robbery. Only a miracle can save the villagers, and that is exactly what happens when Xia-dou’s grandfather (125 years old) prays to heaven for help. Fei Tien is set in the rugged and picturesque highlands in Northwestern China, a landscape that evokes a feeling of timelessness and mystery.