I really like The Song of Damaopu. It is a very touching documentary about a subject that may not be so appealing at first, showing how people in Taiwan are working hard to make artificial wetlands to protect the ecology. The director, Deng Qing-us, uses a lot of Wu Sheng-yu's lectures with his students to show that people still care about this area. I am impressed that the director was bold enough to choose his favorite subject matter and was fascinated by the attitude of Mr. Wu and his love of his work.
The storyline follows a man who returns to his hometown as an adult to re-construct the wetlands there to protect the Taipei frogs.
While it is always important to educate children about environmental awareness, giving them practical examples can be more educational. The film doesn't use chronological or spatial order to show how an event changes. It mainly presents Mr. Wu's current life interspersed with interviews with him about his previous opportunities to protect the wetlands. I find this presentation very interesting, as it feels very relaxed and open. The production values are acceptable -it contains exactly the shots and content it needs to and that's quite good. The film is shot mostly in the wetlands. The star of the show, Mr. Wu, is a very interesting person. He did jobs and he learned different things along the way, and even if he didn't continue with his previous job he used the knowledge he gained to accomplish what he wanted to do. He is an admirable person. My favorite part is when Mr. Wu talks about how the first time he learned about the Taipei frog, he thought that the frog was too pretty to be used to feed other creatures. I found that very insightful.
The film's message is about the importance of biodiversity and the idea that people can't destroy the ecology to protect it. Also it's about the love that people have for something.
I give The Song of Damaopu 4.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 8 to18, plus adults. By Xiangxi K., KIDS FIRST!
I really like The Song of Damaopu. It is a very touching documentary about a subject that may not be so appealing at first, showing how people in Taiwan are working hard to make artificial wetlands to protect the ecology. The director, Deng Qing-us, uses a lot of Wu Sheng-yu's lectures with his students to show that people still care about this area. I am impressed that the director was bold enough to choose his favorite subject matter and was fascinated by the attitude of Mr. Wu and his love of his work.
The storyline follows a man who returns to his hometown as an adult to re-construct the wetlands there to protect the Taipei frogs.
While it is always important to educate children about environmental awareness, giving them practical examples can be more educational. The film doesn't use chronological or spatial order to show how an event changes. It mainly presents Mr. Wu's current life interspersed with interviews with him about his previous opportunities to protect the wetlands. I find this presentation very interesting, as it feels very relaxed and open. The production values are acceptable -it contains exactly the shots and content it needs to and that's quite good. The film is shot mostly in the wetlands. The star of the show, Mr. Wu, is a very interesting person. He did jobs and he learned different things along the way, and even if he didn't continue with his previous job he used the knowledge he gained to accomplish what he wanted to do. He is an admirable person. My favorite part is when Mr. Wu talks about how the first time he learned about the Taipei frog, he thought that the frog was too pretty to be used to feed other creatures. I found that very insightful.
The film's message is about the importance of biodiversity and the idea that people can't destroy the ecology to protect it. Also it's about the love that people have for something.
I give The Song of Damaopu 4.5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 8 to18, plus adults. By Xiangxi K., KIDS FIRST!
Damaopu is a beautiful valley covered with terraced fields, where our protagonist, Wu Sheng-yu, grew aquatic plants and caught frogs when he was little. Although he only has a junior high school diploma, he has been influenced by his childhood memories and got interested in aquatic plants and animals. In order to know them better, he has traveled all over Taiwan to visit rivers, ponds and lakes to collect aquatic plants and animals and bring them home to breed or grow. At last, he knew well most of the 347 aquatic plants in Taiwan and been nicknamed Dr. Fields. Among them, one of his favorites is the endangered species of Taipei frogs. For them, he dedicated most of his time to the restoration of artificial wetlands because he wants to preserve the wetland ecology and hopefully to prevent his beloved Taipei frogs from disappearing in Taiwan.
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