"Wait a minute, I need to open the door for you," said the voice that perhaps is the most recognizable voice in Taiwan, as it's often heard in TV commercials and narrations. At 70 years old, Wu Nien-jen still speaks with a homely and friendly tone. Recently, he closed his advertising company. This morning, he found himself alone at the door, unable to find the button to open it, he joked, "I want to retire." Retirement may seem shocking to some, but he countered, "What's so shocking about it? If your dad is 70, wouldn't you want him to stop working and enjoy life?" He mixed Taiwanese and Mandarin in his response, and almost using profanity.
Wu Nien-jen’s Profile:
- Birth: Born in Rueifang Township, Taipei County（台北縣瑞芳鎮, now Rueifang District, New Taipei City [新北市瑞芳鎮]）in 1952.
- Experience: Graduated from the accounting department of the night school at Fu Jen Catholic University（輔仁大學）. He began his scriptwriting career in 1978 and has won six Golden Horse Awards（four for Best Original Screenplay, one for Best Adapted Screenplay, and one for Best Film Song）and a Golden Melody Award（Best Dialect Lyricist）. His directorial debut, A Borrowed Life, won the Best Picture award at the Torino Film Festival in Italy. In 1997, he switched to advertising production and hosting TV programs and won two Golden Bell Awards（one for corporate advertising and one for the best information program host）. He is the first person in Taiwan to win the "Triple Crown" of the Golden Horse, Golden Melody, and Golden Bell awards. His picture book Traveling Alone At the Age of Eight（《八歲，一個人去旅行》）also won the Golden Tripod Award（金鼎獎）. In the past 20 years, he has written the scripts of the Human Condition series for the Greenray Theatre Company, which is praised as the most down-to-earth national drama, and was awarded the National Cultural Award.
Be ruthless when decluttering, but make an exception for Dad
He's old, tired, and has been sick for a long time. He spent most of his life working under time pressure, and lost his sense of smell at the age of 55, rendering food and cigarettes tasteless for him. Seven years ago, he fell in the bathroom and was once critically ill. Since then, he has been experiencing dizziness and balance issues since. Last year, he was hospitalized three times. Once, his white blood cell count suddenly spiked, and another time he developed bacteremia that almost became septicemia. He spent the Mid-Autumn Festival in the hospital, lying in bed, thinking about cancelling his work. He felt guilty about the promises he couldn't keep and the things he didn't do well, saying, "So I've always felt like I'm always letting others down in my life." He has come to realized that he is getting old and should stay away from the stage. However, despite his recent retirement announcement, the Greenray Theater Company（綠光劇團）has asked him to serve as the chairman of the newly restructured production company. Since he has a bad habit of not being able to decline any request, he accepted it. "Just when I got rid of one burden, I got another one," he couldn't help but complain.
Retirement usually involves decluttering and disconnecting from old routines. The office of the advertising company needs to be sold, and since he can no longer climb stairs, he plans to sell his current townhouse and move to a single-story apartment in town. When tidying up, it's better to just look at each item once and not think about keeping it, so as avoid accumulating things, he says. Recently, he and his son Wu Ding-qian（吳定謙）made a documentary called My Little Boys: The Time Capsules（《小兒子膠囊時光》）, and they found a V8 tape of his son's childhood and a large box of photos of movies from the Taiwanese New Wave Cinema（台灣新電影）era that were shown in overseas exhibitions during the movement's heyday. "It's practically a history of Taiwanese cinema. It's inconvenient to give it to someone else, so let's just throw it away. Then it will be gone at once." Throw it away? "Otherwise, what should we do?" What about history? "There is no history. History should be kept somewhere else. If you want to declutter, you have to be ruthless."
But there are things that he can't be ruthless about, like the manuscript of the movie A Borrowed Life（多桑*）. After the script was written, it was sent to a typing company for processing. However, the art assistant who was handling it kept it for 30 years before passing it on to his friend Ke Yi-zheng（柯一正）. It took another 2 years before Ke Yi-zheng finally got it to him. "Looking at so many sheets of paper, I think it's amazing that someone could write so many words with such perseverance. It's a stack of paper, and I have around 90 stacks, representing 90 screenplays that I have written. " Wu Nien-jen's father was a miner who suffered from silicosis in his later years and ultimately jumped off the hospital building on a typhoon day. When reading the script, however, Wu Nien-jen didn't immediately think of his father, but rather of the moment when he became a father and was able to purchase a new house with the money he made by writing screenplays. "My mom held my son and said to him, 'This house was all written by your father, word by word ,'" Wu recalled.
The boy who cried at mining disasters and was scolded for being "too girly"
Wu Nianzhen was born in the Dacukeng（大粗坑）settlement in Ruifang Township, Taipei County（台北縣瑞芳鎮, now Ruifang District, New Taipei City [新北市瑞芳區],） which has no longer existed and only two ruins remain. When hosting the program "Nien-zhen's Love for Taiwan（《台灣念真情》）," he once visisted the place by tour bas with his mother and a dozen elderly residents in their 60s and 70s. At the end of the show, he cordially called out to those who held memories of Dacukeng, "If there are people who have 'Dacukeng' in their hearts, please write to 'Shorty Qin [矮仔欽]' and let him know." Fast forward to today, everyone in the footage has passed away, except for Wu Nianzhen.
When Wu Nien-jen talked about his hometown, he clenched his fists into a mountain and traced the 102 Highway with a flick of his fingers, which is known for having Taiwan's most beautiful scenery. We then followed him back to Dacukeng through his memories. His given name is Wu Wenqin（吳文欽）, taking his mother's surname. His father, Lian Qing-ke（連清科）, was from Chiayi（嘉義）. After the 228 Incident, he fled to Ruifang to work as a miner. To help ease their grief, he volunteered to become the adopted son of a couple who lost their child. Later, the couple took in a 15-year-old orphan girl as their adopted daughter, and Wu eventually married into the family.
Wu Nianzhen has been sensitive since he was a child. Whenever there was a mining disaster, and he saw children burning joss paper next to the dead bodies, he would cry non-stop. "I feel so bad for these children. They're so young, and maybe tomorrow or the day after they won't be in school with you anymore and have to work as child laborers." When he got home and told his mother about it, she would cry with him, and then scold him while chucking, "You're too girly!"
He recalls a day in middle school when he finished class very late. He saw his mother outside the smelting factory carrying a heavy load of stones. When his mother saw him, she asked him to hurry home and make dinner for his younger siblings. He looked at his mother's hardworking figure and couldn't help but cry. He turned his head so his mother wouldn't see him crying, but she knew what he was feeling. " 'Why are you crying? ‘My mom asked, ‘Even when life is tough, you should still smile up to the heavens.' Her words have stayed with me ever since. It's like gritting your teeth and saying, 'Screw it! You can do whatever you want. I think that's the spirit."
As the eldest son when he was a child, he used to take his two younger brothers and two younger sisters along Highway 102 to a high point where they could see their home and the far-off cities of Keelung and Taipei. “My siblings were young and easily fooled, so I told them that when I grew up, I would go to work in the cities and send money back to buy them tasty food.”
At the age of 15, he started working in Taipei. After completing his military service at the age of 24, he got accepted into the accounting department of a university's night program. He worked part-time in the library of a mental hospital and wrote in his free time. His first published article was about a young man who was scammed while seeking a job in Taipei. This eldest son, who had dreamt of making a fortune on the mountaintop, had a life-changing moment when he learned to portray the stories of underprivileged people. In 1980, he became a screenwriter for Central Motion Pictures Co. He wrote 90 screenplays, of which only two were not produced. Some of his notable works include Time Story（《光陰的故事》）, The Sandwich Man（《孩子的大玩偶》）, That Day, On the Beach（《海灘的一天》）, The Dull-ice Flower（《魯冰花》）、Hill of No Return（《無言的山丘》）, Forever Friends（《號角響起》）, and more. During that time, he shared his story of first love and his hometown with director Hou Hsiao-hsien（侯孝賢）, which led to the creation of the movies Dust in the Wind（《戀戀風塵》）and A City of Sadness（《悲情城市》）, as well as a surge in tourism in Jiufen（九份）. When he confided in Hou Hsiao-hsien about his father's suicide, the director encouraged him to make a film about it himself, which led to A Borrowed Life.
Shooting Campaign Ads for Ah-Bian（阿扁）and drifting away from Hou Hsiao-hsien
During the Taiwanese New Wave Cinema period, Wu Nien-jen experienced the most cherished and glorious time of his life. He and a group of young filmmakers used to gather at director Edward Yang（楊德昌）'s home to discuss movie scripts, chatting until 3am every night without worrying about payment. In the room, there was a small blackboard filled with movie titles, and after numerous edits and revisions, only two lines on it remained unchanged: "Taiwanese films are the headquarter of reactionists” and ”Heroes make low-budget films." Their shared goal was to compete at international film festivals.
"Edward Yang was a badass. One time at a film festival in Hong Kong, we were hanging out at night, and（Chinese directors）Zhang Yi-mou （張藝謀） and Chen Kai-ge（陳凱歌）were with us. At that time, they were still unknown and nearly broke. Halfway through the conversation, Edward Yang said, 'Our competitors are not just ourselves but also the Mainland.' Everyone shared the desire to showcase Taiwan to the world, and we started reach out to foreign countries. Slowly but surely, our movies began gaining recognition abroad," Wu Nien-jen recalled.
“Why did everyone drift apart later on?” He was silent for a few seconds, took two puffs of his cigarette, and said that when everyone was intelligent and talented, "we could work together, but at a certain stage, everyone thinks, 'I should do it my way,' and then the other person thinks, 'Fxxk! He doesn't listen to me.' It's unlikely that we could work together all the time, or else we would have conquered the world." He and Hou Hsiao-hsien were once close friends but now have become "increasingly polite" to each other. When asked if he had any regrets, he said, "Certainly, I regret it. Hsiao-hsien has a weakness in his character, which is... " He paused for a moment, flicked the cigarette ash with his fingers, and the smoke lingered between his fingers. "The political divisions are what kill people in Taiwan. We started drifting apart when Chen Shui-bian（陳水扁）ran for his second term as the mayor of Taipei, and I helped shoot campaign ads for him. We made a lot of ads, and at that time, the Kuomintang（國民黨）spent a lot of money to criticize me. So, let's just forget about it." Even with time, the differences in political and creative ideas, as well as the conflict between the native Taiwanese and Mainlanders, seemed impossible to heal.
Glory in limelight, tragedy in darkness - three Golden Awards and two tragic losses
In his prime, he climbed step by step to greater heights, winning the Golden Horse Award（金馬獎）for filmmaking and scriptwriting, the Golden Melody Award（金曲獎）for songwriting, and the Golden Bell Award（金鐘獎）for hosting and acting in commercial ads. He achieved the remarkable feat of winning all three major awards in the entertainment industry. However, his siblings didn't share the same fate. His eldest younger brother, Lian Bi-Dong（連碧東）, tragecally took his life by inhaling car exhaust gas on the 102 Highway. And his eldest younger sister, who suffered from severe depression, fell victim to a phone scam and committed suicide by burning charcoal.
Just like him, his oldest younger brother also left the 102 Highway after graduating from junior high school and headed to the city. Unfortunately, he faced an abusive master during his apprenticeship and was subjected to regular beatings. His factory went bankrupt, and he was imprisoned for violating the "Law of Negotiable Instruments（票據法）." Upon his release, he drove a taxi, but struggled with an unstable income. He then worked at his brother's company but had to leave due to unclear reimbursements. In the end, his dream was shattered by a debt of 50 million NT dollars.
When Wu Nien-jen talked about his younger brother, his voice choked up, "When my brother passed away, the police called me and told me where he was（he committed suicide）. I knew where he was as soon as I answered the phone. The police tried to tell me how to get there, but I told him I knew, I already knew...." It was the place where he shared his dreams of making money with his siblings. Sometimes he wondered if his eldest younger brother had also taken his younger siblings there to talk about their dreams after he had left home. Wu Nien-chen, known as the best storyteller in Taiwan, couldn't continue and turned his head away. His eyes turned red, but as someone who only takes medicine for depression when it becomes unbearable, he didn't allow himself to cry. He apologized and interrupted the interview.
"My younger brother has been gone for so long, but certain things still linger in my heart. I can't help it." He personally retrieved his younger brother's body, and whenever he talks about him, he thinks of his remains. Therefore, he never travels on the 102 Highway alone unless accompanied by someone. "Once I drove someone over there and saw that pavilion（Buyan Pavilion [不厭亭]） packed with people taking pictures of the sunset. I just like, ‘holy cow!’ I thought to myself, 'Damn it! This is my place, not yours!'"
Write Human Condition 7（《人間條件七》）for the neighborhood before quit writing and retire
In his play Human Condition 1（《人間條件一》）, there is a line that reads: "Stay safe, stay strong, stay happy." Wu Nien-chen says, "It seems like this sentence needs to be told to the Taiwanese people in every era and stage. When we were in first grade, we felt like Taiwan was almost finished because of the 823 Artillery Bombardment（八二三砲戰）, the severing of diplomatic ties with the United States, and withdrawal from the United Nations. We had the same feeling with every crisis, so it seems staying strong has become a fundamental aspect of Taiwanese's character."
Over the past two decades, he has written the Human Condition series for the Greenray Theatre Company, winning the prestigious National Cultural Award（行政院文化獎）. He originally intended to write stage plays that were relatable and would touch the audience's hearts. "When people begin to feel that they can relate to 'Human Condition' series, can we use it to tell them something?" That's why, in Human Condition 4（《人間條件四》）, he explores the idea that, "In the past, Taiwanese families devoted all of their resources to the best-performing student in the family. However, was the outstanding student truly the most significant contribution to the family? Not really. Likewise, Taiwan's intellectuals may enjoy abundant resources, but are they truly the most beneficial to this country?"
Human Condition 6（《人間條件六》）is Wu's most fullfilling work. It portrays the sandwich generation who must raise their children and take care of their parents, and explores the value conflicts between different generations. Wu explains, "Many of my friends are facing this situation. They leave their children in America when they're young, only to call them back in their 30s or 40s. They disrupt their children’s lives and relationships and hand over their career to them. But regardless of what decision their children make, they are quick to criticize and insult them, without showing any respect."
As for Human Condition 7（《人間條件七》）, which he has been conceiving for 7 years, Wu shares, "I feel like this might be my last play before retirement. The play is based on the experiences of Ruan Ruei-fang（阮瑞芳）'s female neighbors. After leaving their hometown to work, they got married, helped their husbands, but in the end their husbands cheated on them, and their marriages were unhappy. And then, they had to return to their hometown to take care of their elderly mother. They used to tell me their stories, and I always thought that someday I would write a novel about them, but I never did. So, I took this opportunity to fulfill my wish and turned their stories into a play."
The joy of grandparenthood: spending time with grandson becomes priority.
He often said that he had no emotional attachment to Taipei, seeing it as a place to make a living. Yet, he held a special place in his heart for Dacukeng, a village that was full of melancholy but possessed a human touch. There, he learned how to read and write letters for villagers from Uncle Tiaochun（條春伯）, who he looked up to as a role model of intellectuals. There were elders who made a pact with his father that whoever passed away first would have the other help with funeral and coffin-carrying. "Whether someone develop an emotional attachment to a city depends on whether people or the environment had warmed you. The way people interacted in the village where I grew up during my youth is unparalleled elsewhere in the world and had left an indelible impact on my personality since I was young."
"Another reason why you hold it dear is that it disappeared. If it hadn't disappeared, perhaps the changes in the town would have made you very uncomfortable, and you might have chosen another city, maybe Taipei. But because Dacukeng Village is gone, all of my memories of it are nothing but beautiful." But if you succeed and become famous in Taipei, wouldn't that be too ungrateful to say that? "Yes, but you can't persuade me to change my emotional attachment to my hometown."
Recently, he and his friend take a trip on the 102 Highway to film a video. “I'm starting to feel that I can handle my emotions when returning to the scene." He paused for a moment and said, "Time is a remedy. With time, things fade away slowly, and you also tell yourself not to get entangled in the past. Sometimes, the more you think about it, the more unhappy you become. Can you let it fade out a bit?"
Time heals wounds and brings new life. His grandson was born last year, and he brought him to the family hall to introduce him to their ancestors. "I couldn't finish the sentence and got choked up. Suddenly, I felt that life is just like a line." Helping to take care of his grandson became a source of joy in his life. However, when he saw his grandson crawling on the ground with a big smile on his face, holding onto his thigh for a hug, he worried, "Wouldn't it be great if your future could be so happy? What kind of world would you grow up in? What the future of Taiwan would be like?" He opened his cellphone and watched a video his son sent him of his grandson learning to say "daddy" but kept saying "mommy" instead. After many attempts, his grandson finally said him "daddy," and he smiled with no worries in the world.
However, he still has one worry. Due to the pandemic, his son's wedding and grandson's full-month celebration couldn't have guests. "Many of my friends make fun and say, 'We don't recognize that your son is married, and we don't recognize that you're already a grandfather!'" When asked if he looks forward to his grandson calling him "grandpa,” he said, "It's okay. He will definitely call me that someday."
★《鏡週刊》關心您：抽菸有害身心健康。
★《鏡週刊》關心您：再給自己一次機會
- 防自殺諮詢專線：1925（24小時）
- 生命線：1995
- 張老師專線：1980
