Batain Lai!! Minami no Shima no Mizu Monogatari
パッテンライ!! ～南の島の水ものがたり～
Synopsis
The story is set in 1917, during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, when the island is enduring a severe drought and famine. The people of the Chianan Plain live in poverty, their days consumed by the constant chore of hauling water to their homes. When Yoichi Hatta, a Japanese civil engineer, arrives with an ambitious plan to transform the region's irrigation system, the locals quickly dismiss him as a fraud. Xu Yingzhe, the son of a poor farmer, challenges this outright rejection and attempts to understand and evaluate Hatta's proposal. Though his scheme may appear insane, it could be exactly what is needed to improve the harsh lives of the Taiwanese people.
Background
Batain Lai!! Minami no Shima no Mizu Monogatari won the 23rd Japan Society of Civil Engineers' Cinema Committee's Most Excellent award. The movie premiered in Japan as Pattenrai!! ~ Minami no Shima no Mizu Monogatari (パッテンライ!! ～南の島の水ものがたり～) on November 15, 2008. It was released in Taiwan with mixed Taiwanese-Mandarin dub on November 13, 2009; with some cinemas offering the original Japanese dub and Chinese subtitles. Special Taiwanese premieres of the movie were screened in Tainan on November 4, 2009, attended by the former president Ma Ying-jeou; and in Taipei on November 9, 2009, attended by the former president Lee Teng-hui.
