Listen Before You Sing

聽見歌 再唱

113 mins | 2021 | 楊智麟 Shine Yang

The story begins at a tribal primary school for the Bunun tribe in the mountains. The school is risking closure and withdrawal of funding, unless the students distinguish themselves by winning an award, such as the choir competition in 3 months. However, they are dealt with a bad hand, including a group of students with few musical instincts, a physical education teacher that can’t read musical notes and a contract music teacher who doesn’t see herself belong in the group. In the backstage, hearing how other groups performed, the children recognized their differences and immediately felt defeat and inferiority.  Despite the first performance being a disaster, the students were still encouraged by the applause and the expansive world outside of the village. Learning from their initial loss, the team revised their approach and leveraged their unique Bunun talents to differentiate and regain confidence. 

深山裡的部落小學,一名不懂五線譜的體育老師方保羅 (馬志翔 飾),被校長指派擔任合唱團的指揮,期望他們在三個月後的合唱比賽上得到優異名次,才有機會解決被廢校的危機。比起倉促成軍的合唱團,當孩子們在比賽會場看到其他專業培訓合唱團的表現時,信心崩潰得不敢上台,他們因為自己的聲音跟別人不一樣,就認為別人是對的,自己是錯的。

身為指揮的方保羅,半哄半騙地帶著孩子們上台演出,雖然成績不理想,但表演結束後的掌聲卻深深震撼著他們。對於一個來自學生人數只有五十人的小學校,感受到一千多人的掌聲鼓勵,感受是非常強烈的,而方保羅也第一次體會到,孩子們會因為得到掌聲,燃起了新的力量和信心去面對挫折。他開始用體育專長去發明適合孩子們的練唱方式,重新用歌聲感動整個部落。

Despite the lack of resources, the Bunun children in the remote tribe were able to leverage their unique culture and voices, along with their tough spirits. The film showcased the mountains, tribal culture and challenges with education in remote areas; yet simultaneously the film created a dialogue with its audience around the dynamic between modernization versus the preservation of culture. How does a community display and maintain its characteristics and identity, amidst rapid developments and globalization?

深山部落裡的原住民孩子,雖然沒有城市孩子的教育資源,但是透過他們獨特的文化與嗓音,以及團結不服輸的精神,唱出了屬於布農族特色的音樂。透過電影讓波士頓的觀眾看見台灣的山景、部落特色、偏鄉教育的困境;同時也想要開啟與觀眾的對話,思考在現代化進程快速的台灣社會氛圍下,如何能夠看見每個族群的個體性並保留多元的文化。在全球化與世界接軌的進程中,不失去自我認同、本土與在地性的光芒。

Director 楊智麟 Shine Yang

Born in 1973, director Shine Yang received his Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from Ming Chuan University in Taiwan and a graduate degree in Film Studies from Savannah College of Arts and Design in the US. He directed films and television shows at Greatland Films, Taiwan Public Television Service, Tzu-Chi channel and Tzu-Chi University. With the documentary “Sing It!”, he won the top award at the Golden Harvest Awards. Since then, he has produced various high quality work including “Listen Before You Sing” and “Unknown Taiwan : Jinguashi”

1973 年出生,於台灣銘傳大學大眾傳播系、美國 Savannah College of Arts and Design 電影研究所畢業,曾任葛納蘭影片有限公司導演、公視【發現者】節目導演、慈濟大愛電視台導演、慈濟大學講師等。以紀錄片《唱歌吧》獲得金穗獎首獎,其他執導作品如:電影《聽見歌 再唱》、電影紀錄片《謎樣金瓜石》等皆具有堅強的實力。