Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de tentudía en Calera

Influenced by the autobiographical approach o f the N ew C inem a, Chu used her own childhood experiences in writing her first rural N ativist film story "A Sum m er at G randpa's" (A n-an te chia-ch'i, 1984). H er m other's H akka hometown, M iao-li provided the setting for a warm portrayal o f the natural cycle o f life and death in an extended fam ily in the countryside. The story is told through the weekly letters home to his m other o f a tw elve year old boy staying w ith his grandparents. Chu's stories have been described by W illiam Tay as stories o f "initiation," conveying a "sense o f (the) developing personalities o f the protagonists" and which "incorporate the initiation them e into their plots as a feature o f the m aturing process."24 In this film story, th e p lay fu l children presented in Hou and Ch'en's earlier films are given a deeper characterisation by

23. Ibid., p. 21.

24. See William Tay, "The Ideology of Initiation: The Films of Hou Hsiao-Hsien," in New Chinese Cinemas: Forms, Identifies, Politics, eds., Nick Browne and others (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 151, 152.

this introduction by Chu o f the "initiation" theme w hich show s the children having a developing sensitivity to the nuances of adult life.

W hen the story starts, An-an has ju st finished prim ary school in Taipei. His father, a busy engineer in the city with a pregnant w ife cannot cope with looking after An-an and his sister, so the two children are sent o ff to spend the sum m er with their grandparents in the countryside. Their initiation into adult ways starts with the journey. W hen their uncle comes with his girl friend to take them to their grandparents' house, the children are im m ediately surprised by the unthinking and inconsiderate behaviour o f the pair. To their surprise, the girl friend even casually drops rubbish on the floor o f the train.

Staying with his grandparents, An-an has a wonderful time in the open air, swimming in the river, playing with turtles w ith the other kids, and generally enjoying life in the wild, green country scenery. He gets a taste o f a traditional upbringing, w ith different habits in everything, ranging from table m anners to how to talk to people. An-an's grandfather is a doctor, w hose house is "like a faded, yellow old photo." Everything about his old fash io n ed custom s is d ifferen t from the y o u n g er g e n eratio n 's ways. B ut, A n -a n re s p e c ts his grandfather, sensing his authority, an "invisible thing w hich cannot be touched" but w hich has a palpable feel to it — his grandfather's calligraphy desk and the room s o f the m edical practice are "places where children are n o t allow ed to tre sp a ss." 25

T here is co n flict betw een A n-an's uncle and the doctor. The uncle disappoints his father by having an affair w ith a w orking wom an. W hen he m arries the girl and leaves the family home without notice, the sense o f the decay o f the fam ily patriarchy becom es explicit. But, w hen the old m an softens his

25, "An-an te chia-ch'i (Summer at Grandpa's), TYHSC, p. 86.

attitude and visits his son in his new home, An-an's uncle is surprised that his father should make the first move towards a reconciliation.

Chu is skilful in evoking the strong sentiments that link the fam ily in spite o f the frequent scoldings. The love o f the parents for their children is suggested by gestures, casual remarks and the empathy shown to exist betw een them. An- an’s uncle's regret at differing with his father is a testim ony to his sincerity and the strength o f his feelings for his family. The relationship is suggested with some subtlety, A n-an's uncle "does not know w hether to invite his father into the house, and asks (his bride) to come out. G randfather w aves his hand as if to say, it is all right, or good-bye, or, well, you go on as you will. He turns back."26 W hen the bride comes out from the house, we are told that she sees her husband "squatting next to the field, he m ay be ju s t thinking, (or) ju s t looking at cauliflowers, but at that moment, she dares not disturb him and also squats quietly on the side."27 W hile the authority o f the patriarch is challenged in this story, the challenge takes place in the context o f a warm and sincere relationship, and not as a rebellion against a cold and unfeeling dom ination; in fact, any rebellion is show n as m uch by inner thought as by overt o bjection to paternal authority.

W hile showing the tranquillity o f country life, C hu T 'ien-w en does not romanticise rural life, and An-an learns that crime is not confined to the big city when he sees a robber hitting his victim with a stone. She depicts change in the village through the two children who notice new signs o f industrialisation since previous visits.

H ow ever, the core relatio n sh ip s am ong the m em bers o f the village com m unity are un affected by changes and the p a ssin g o f tim e. A n-an's

2b, Ibid., p. 98. 27. Ibid., p. 98.

grandfather, the doctor, does not always charge a fee, and often supports his patients in rebuilding their lives after some personal disaster. T here are strong bonds o f sympathy and respect between the doctor and his patients. Chu paints a picture o f a rural society that graphically records the pressures from w hich it suffers as society changes, and em phasises the responsibility th at the higher classes feel to m aintain social harmony. If there is a hint o f nostalgia in her description o f a rural community, it is because o f the autobiographical nature o f much o f her material. The preservation o f the idealised values o f old Taiwan that still no u rish ed the com m unity as it gradually absorbed a new m o d em life, provides an optim istic view o f change, which is in complete contrast w ith w hat we m ight have expected from the teenage Chu T'ien-wen. The next story is a natural progression from this one, and follows the protagonists from the village to coping w ith life in the city, and shows how the values o f village life can still provide reassurance.