Currently Watching "La Grande Chaumiere Violette"

 

Most Taiwanese TV shows I've watched are spoken in Mandarin with sprinkles of Hokkien whenever applicable. In this case, La Grande Chaumiere Violette which means The Big Purple Cottage is spoken mostly in Hokkein. Nihonggo and Mandarin are spoken as well due to characters from China and Japan. because of characters from  The setting is during Imperial Japan's rule over Taiwan in 1920- a very turbulent time as Japan back then was a major threat when it was an ever-expanding empire. The Empire of Japan died in 1945 and began the rise of Modern Japan. Japanese do still remember the bitter history. I remembered watching the movie The Tokyo Trial which focused on executing the Japanese war criminals. 

The summary goes as follows:

San Francisco, 1980. As 72-year-old Guo Xue Hu reminisces about his hometown, Dadaocheng, a young man walks towards him from afar. It is Xing Xiong, Yi An's son. He has brought a letter from Yi An, a letter addressed to him. He learns that Yi An had already passed away last year. Xue Hu tells Xing Xiong about the 1920s when he met his father, Yi An. Through Xue Hu's words, Xing Xiong pictures his father as a young man and gets to know him better. The memories of Yi An and Ru Yue's tortuous love and all the scenes of joy and sorrow during those turbulent times keep coming back to Xue Hu-that era, those people. The things that happened are things he will never forget.

What's interesting to know is that Guo Xue Hu is a very real person. Well, we know biopics tend to have imagined scenarios based on the biography given to the writers. Some scenes are well-imagined such as Chiang Yi An's father's dislike of Yi An doing painting, Yi An's first love Chuang Ju Yueh, and the rest of the cast. I mean, we do like to imagine some fictional events if it's going to be a biopic though I'd want to see a documentary on the said person. Eli Sheh the person acting as Yi An also acts as Yi An's son Chiang Xing Xiong in the scenes set in the 1980s. Bryant Lee acts as the historical person Xue Hu in the younger days. Though it seems that the earlier episodes focused on Yi An over Xue Hu. Right now, I feel compelled to do some "homework" by researching on Xue Hu. I mean, I wish I were in Taiwan right now though I could hardly speak Mandarin and Amoy. I want to be like that strange white guy who's interested in Chinese history!

Will I be giving episode reviews of this period drama? The answer is a no. The series took place four years ago so that means I'll be watching it at my own pace. I feel the need to watch some Taiwanese shows again after some time I've been estranged from it. I'll probably drop a random thought when I reach 11 episodes and final thoughts when I finish it.