Movie

A Year in the Clouds

Name: A Year in the Clouds
Released: 2011

2011 • Unknown

Woke Score

out of 10

Plot

High in the mountains of Taiwan, is the remote village of Smangus. Inhabited by a unique group of indigenous people called the Tayal, Smangus is the only place in Taiwan that now practices common ownership of land and property. This is a place where nature and man have found balance. Now, witness every part of the lives of these people, through pain and joy, and experience the unique bonds formed with the ancient trees around them, in a film that documents A Year In The Clouds - a year amongst the sacred forests of this tribe.

Overall Series Review

The film is a Taiwanese documentary that records the year-long life cycle of the Tayal indigenous people in the mountain village of Smangus, focusing on their unique communal ownership of land and property. The narrative celebrates the dignity and traditions of the tribe, contrasting their harmonious relationship with the ancestral forest against the pressures of the modern world. The documentary witnesses moments of joy, pain, and the collective effort involved in their community projects, such as building a classroom, and their spiritual practices, including the traditional Thanksgiving Festival. The focus remains on the preservation of a unique indigenous way of life and the strong bonds formed with the surrounding natural environment.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics7/10

The entire narrative is centered on the immutable characteristics of the Tayal indigenous people, celebrating their specific, non-Western, and collective ethnic identity. The film is fundamentally an assertion and presentation of a distinct cultural identity as a source of strength and dignity. The celebration of this unique cultural identity in the face of the 'modern world' gives the film a high score, even though it does not explicitly contain the vilification of 'whiteness' or forced diversity.

Oikophobia2/10

The narrative does not exhibit hostility toward Western civilization, one's own home, or ancestors. Instead, the film demonstrates deep gratitude and respect for the Tayal tribe's home, ancestors, and core communal institutions. The film frames the Tayal culture, with its ancient forest and common property ownership, as a balanced and vital alternative to the outside modern world.

Feminism1/10

The film is a documentary focused on a traditional indigenous community's collective life, labor, and cultural preservation. There is no presence of the 'Girl Boss' trope, nor is there any narrative focused on the emasculation of males or anti-natalist messages. Gender dynamics appear to be traditional and complementary within the tribal structure, as is common for a documentary of this nature.

LGBTQ+1/10

The documentary observes the traditional, familial, and communal structure of the Tayal indigenous people. There is no inclusion of the Queer Theory lens, and no presence of alternative sexual ideologies, deconstruction of the nuclear family, or lecturing on gender theory. The structure is normative and private.

Anti-Theism2/10

The film documents the tribe's traditional spiritual practices, including the 'Ryax Smqas Hnuway Utux Kaya' or Thanksgiving Festival. The narrative presents the tribe's faith and traditional beliefs as being integral to their cultural vitality and strength. There is no evidence of hostility toward religion or promotion of moral relativism, but rather an acknowledgment of transcendent cultural and spiritual laws that connect them to their ancestors and the sacred forest.