Review of Formosa Betrayed (2010) by Jim M — 07 Jun 2011

1983: A Taiwanese-American professor is gunned down in Chicago and FBI Agent Jake Kelly (James Van Der Beek) is called in to assist the Chicago PD. Suspects with ties to the Triad are soon identified but flee to Taiwan. Kelly though unable to speak Mandarin and knowing almost nothing about the island, is sent to assit and observe the Taiwanese efforts to find the fugutives. Kelly soon runs into Taiwanese officials who seem to want to keep him drunk rather then working, State Department officials who want him to do as little as possible and native Formosian dissidents who will risk their lives to help Kelly expose a crime buried for 35 years...

Directed by Adam Kane, written/produced/and acted by Will Tiao, Formosa Betrayed is Tiao's pet project routed in the history of his native Formosa, an island now called Taiwan and officially the Republic of China. Tiao and Kane have produced a good international thriller that serves as Tiao platform to call for Taiwanese Independence. Set during the period of "White Terror" and inspired by several real life murders of Formosian dissidents in the United States and Taiwan. I found my self taken in by the setting, the music and the period. Wendy Crewson plays a good burecrat, Will Tiao certainly poors his heart into his role as a dissident. I've never paid much attention to Van Der Beek, never watched Dawson's Creek but I can say that he handles himself well here as Kelly. He managed to convince me he was a seasoned Agent rather then some pretty boy playing cop. I enjoyed the film, though if your not one for politics this probably isn't your thing.