Beyond the Mirage (2002)

Overview

This is a behind-the-scenes documentary of "Double Vision", a Hollywood film shot in Taiwan. In 2001, Taiwan was struck by as many as nine typhoons, bringing with them an extraordinary amount of rainfall. That same year marked the first time the Hollywood film industry arrived in Taiwan with substantial funding and manpower. Although this documentary follows a production boasting an impressive international cast, it also captures a more complex reality: when the powerful machinery of Hollywood enters a country whose own film industry has all but disappeared, what should we be questioning or reflecting upon in this model of transnational collaboration? Like the typhoons that repeatedly swept across Taiwan during filming, what else did they bring besides torrential rain?

Keywords