Review: Grandma and Her Ghosts

Taiwan, boasting a per capita GDP rivaling Japan and South Korea, ranks among the world’s wealthiest nations. Yet, “Made in Taiwan” still primarily evokes its cutting-edge semiconductor industry, driven by its precision engineering, rather than cultural soft power in the entertainment realm. Unlike South Korea’s K-pop, Japan’s anime, or the once-dominant Hong Kong film industry, Taiwan’s “economic miracle” has always stemmed from the success of its electronics manufacturing, rather than a globally influential cultural industry.

Nonetheless, “Taiwanese cinema” has enjoyed two notable golden ages. In the 1960s, locally-produced films in regional dialects flourished, resonating with audiences across Southeast Asia’s Chinese diaspora. Then, in the 1980s, the “Taiwan New Wave” emerged, with innovative directors winning awards at prestigious international film festivals. However, Taiwan’s small market and limited government support shaped a film industry that could only focus on niche arthouse productions, unable to compete with Hollywood-style large-scale commercial productions.

Taiwanese cinema does have representative works appealing to mainstream audiences. The animated film Grandma and Her Ghosts, released in 1999, beautifully captures the island’s unique cultural identity with its vibrant aesthetics and folklore storytelling. While its initial box office performance was modest, its frequent reruns on cable television made it a cherished childhood memory for many Taiwanese millennials and earned its place as a classic in Taiwanese animation.

Image sourced from Grandma and Her Ghosts Facebook fan page.

Grandma and Her Ghosts tells a nostalgic tale: a young boy is sent to stay temporarily with his grandmother in a coastal fishing village while his parents work abroad. Though his grandmother gives off an intimidating demeanor, she is a respected spiritual medium in the local community. However, the city-raised boy is unable to adapt to the mysterious rural life and cries himself to sleep each night.

With time, the boy soon forgets the video games he once adored as he discovers the village to be an ancient and fun world: From the vibrant rituals of the Ghost Festival and floating lanterns to carefree bike rides with new friends through streets and alleyways, and even befriending spirit animals visible only to children. Ultimately, Grandma and Her Ghostsis a story of reconciliation between rural and urban communities, exploring how the two worlds, though drifting apart, can still find harmony amid economic development.

Grandma and Her Ghosts is clearly inspired by Taiwan’s “nativist literary movement” of the 1970s. In the film, an ancient demon tempts the young boy with an enticing offer: if he steals his grandmother’s mystical powers, he will gain enough wealth to buy a car and a house, and his hardworking parents will return to him. The idea of “trading land and familial bonds to achieve wealth” was a recurring theme among realist writers who emerged under the banner of nativist literature in post-war Taiwan.

From many economists’ perspective, Taiwan’s post-World War II era is often described as “Taiwan Economic Miracle,” fueled by 70 years of rapid economy growth.” However, this swift development came at a significant cost—undermining traditions, fragmenting communities, and causing severe ecological damage. In the cities, the rise of individualism began to erode the close-knit social ties that once characterized rural life. Critics argue that many contemporary Taiwanese have become increasingly self-centered, prioritizing unlimited pursuit of wealth over communal and familial values.

In Grandma and Her Ghosts, the menacing demon shares a striking resemblance to the iconic monsters from Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away. Both are small in size but insatiable in desire, devouring everything in their path until they nearly consume the entire world. In this classic Taiwanese animation, the “bad spirit” or pháinn-mih-á (literally a “bad thing” in Taiwanese), once feared by folk religions, now symbolizes the collapse of the traditional order. The bad spirit declares it will become a “free monster.” The film’s release coincided with Taiwan’s integration into the global market and the rising of social division spurred by neoliberal economics trends.

However, Grandma and Her Ghosts is more than just a left-wing critique of globalization. Despite its artistic merit and captivating storytelling, it faced harsh criticism from the judges of the Golden Horse Awards, Taiwan’s most prestigious film honor and a renowned Asian cinematic prize.

While acknowledging its technical excellence, most members of Golden Horse Awards panel criticized its approach. They deemed its depiction of supernatural elements as promoting superstitious and regressive ideas. As a result, despite the film’s undeniable artistic merit, the judges controversially decided not to award the “Best Animation” prize, leaving the category vacant that year.

This decision reflects a long-standing cultural issue in Taiwan. After retreating to the island following the Chinese Civil War, the KMT implemented colonial governance aimed at instilling “Chinese culture” via the education system, emphasizing its sophistication and elegance. For over half a century, Taiwan’s indigenous languages, beliefs, art, and literature were often dismissed as crude and inferior, even by the Taiwanese themselves.

As Grandma and Her Ghosts chose to spotlight the folklore and religious traditions of a small fishing village, it was dismissed by the state-controlled film industry as unworthy of artistic recognition. For decades, Taiwanese students were required to study classical Chinese ancient tales such as Journey to the West or Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. Yet, when local creators, such as those behind Grandma and Her Ghosts explored Taiwan’s own folk traditions, their works often faced visible or invisible resistance from both the government and the society.

Though Grandma and Her Ghosts became a hidden gem in Taiwan’s animation history, its lack of critical acclaim sheds light on the era’s cultural struggle: while the so-called “Taiwan Miracle” created a wealthy class of elite engineers, “Taiwanese culture” has struggled to establish a distinct and compelling presence in the fiercely competitive global market—one that fully expresses the island’s unique beauty and sorrow.

(Featured photo from Grandma and Her Ghosts Facebook fan page)