Card Boom

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Card Boom

Director :

Hung-Chieh LIN

Year :

2007

Country:

Taiwan

Color :

Color

Running Time :

32 min

Society
Human Interest

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Synopsis

The film traces the consumption experiences of two extreme individuals, and takes the audience on a tour to explore the credit card phenomena in Taiwan: Zheng Sanhe, the first Taiwanese “card slave” to successfully apply for bankruptcy. Not realizing what he had gotten into at first, Zheng was startled to find himself owing millions of Taiwan Dollars (TWD). Pressure from banks and threats from asset management companies forced Zheng into the vicious circle of sustaining one card with another; Yang Huiru, the first Taiwanese “card legend” who made a killing from a loophole in the credit card point program. Yang, with help from relatives and friends, took advantage of the loophole and accumulated huge amount of points through pooling together airline and consumer goods purchases. She then sold the points through online auctions. She earned over one million TWD before her card was canceled by the bank.

Speaking from her own experiences, Yang Huiru advised card slaves to face reality: “cut up the cards as soon as possible. The interest rate is too heavy. And don’t you think of paying back debt with more cards. It will only make yourself fall even deeper.”

Director Statement

It’s an important moment when I picked up the video camera.

Video resources and trust in the production team are the biggest issues at the beginning of my shooting. I must overcome these issues and tell the story with clarity. I chose to stay on the conservative side in my storytelling, kept the black humor of the subject matter, because this phenomenon is ridiculous.

I tend to identify with anarchism, and have always been critical of some policies from the Taiwanese government. For example, the government offers financial help to large corporations and not individuals. Towards the end of this film, I find resources are insufficient and different voices from banking sector and the government are presented. To avoid falling into the trap of going against businesses, I made some minor changes to provide the audience with more objective data.

I am moved by many things in life. Making a documentary is the fastest way to expand the depth and scope of one’s experiences. I’ve seen the life of many, including their joy, anger, grief and happiness. In the making of a film, I engage in the process of self-examining. Making documentary is a bit like religion for me. It gives a much more profound experience than listening to a speech or watching a film.