- A City of Sadness
-
A City of Sadness
Japanese DVD coverDirected by Hou Hsiao-hsien Produced by Chiu Fu-sheng Written by Chu Tien-wen
Wu Nien-jenStarring Tony Leung Chiu Wai
Sung Young Chen
Jack Kao
Li Tian-luMusic by S.E.N.S. Cinematography Chen Huai-en Editing by Liao Ching-song Studio 3-H Films Distributed by Era Communications (Int'l rights) Release date(s) September 4, 1989 (Venice Film Festival)
October 1989 (Taiwan)Running time 157 minutes Country Taiwan Language Taiwanese
Mandarin
Japanese
Cantonese
ShanghaineseA City of Sadness (Chinese: 悲情城市; pinyin: bēiqíng chéngshì) is a 1989 Taiwanese historical drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It tells the story of a family embroiled in the tragic "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government (KMT) after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s, during which thousands of Taiwanese were rounded up, shot, and/or sent to prison.
The film was the first to deal openly with the KMT's authoritarian misdeeds after its 1945 turnover of Taiwan from Japan, and the first to depict the 228 Incident of 1947, in which thousands of people were massacred.
A City of Sadness was the first Chinese-language film to win the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival.
Contents
Synopsis
The film depicts the Lin family's experiences during the White Terror. The eldest brother Wen-heung (Sung Young Chen) is murdered by a Shanghai mafia boss, the middle brother Wen-leung (Jack Kao) suffers a traumatic brain injury in a KMT jailhouse, and the youngest brother Wen-ching (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), who is both deaf and mute, hopes to flee to the mountains with his friend to fight in the anti-KMT resistance movement. By the end of the film even the photographer Wen-ching has been arrested by the authorities, leaving only his wife to tell the story of the family's destruction.
Wen-ching's deafness began as an expedient to disguise Tony Leung's inability to speak Taiwanese (or Japanese - the language taught in Taiwan's schools during the 51 year occupation), but wound up being an effective means to demonstrate the brutal insensitivity of Chen Yi's ROC administration.
Cast
The Lin Family
- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as Wen-ching
- Sung Young Chen as Wen-heung
- Jack Kao as Wen-leung
- Li Tian-lu as Ah-lu (Grandfather)
Other Roles
- Xin Shufen as Hinomi
- Wu Yi-Fang as Hinoiei
- Nakamura Ikuyo as Shizuko
- Jan Hung-Tze as Mr. Lin
- Wu Nien-jen as Mr. Wu
- Zhang Dachun as Reporter Ho
- Tsai Chen-nan as singer (cameo appearance)
Production
A City of Sadness was filmed on location in Jiufen, an old and declined gold mining town in northeast of Taiwan. The film revived Jiufen, and it became a popular tourist attraction.[citation needed]
This film is regarded as the first installment in a trilogy of films that deal with Taiwanese history, which also includes The Puppetmaster (1993) and Good Men, Good Women (1995).
Critical reception
The film was placed at No.5 on The Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures by Hong Kong Film Awards 2005, and placed at No.1 on The Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures by Golden Horse Film Festival 2011.[citation needed]
Awards and nominations
- 46th Venice Film Festival
- Won: Golden Lion [1]
- Won: UNESCO Prize
- 1989 Golden Horse Film Festival
- Won: Best Director – Hou Hsiao-hsien
- Won: Best Leading Actor – Sung Young Chen
- Nominated: Best Film
- Nominated: Best Screenplay – Chu Tien-wen, Wu Nien-jen
- Nominated: Best Editing – Liao Ching-song
- 1989 Kinema Junpo Awards
- Won: Best Foreign Language Film – Hou Hsiao-hsien
- 1991 Mainichi Film Concours
- Won: Best Foreign Language Film – Hou Hsiao-hsien
- 1991 Independent Spirit Awards
- Nominated: Best Foreign Film – Hou Hsiao-hsien
- 1991 Political Film Society
- Won: Special Award
Further reading
- Berenice Reynaud, A City of Sadness, British Film Institute 2002
References
External links
- A City of Sadness at the Internet Movie Database
- A City of Sadness at AllRovi
Films directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien 1980s Cute Girls (1980) · Cheerful Wind (1981) · The Green, Green Grass of Home (1982) · The Sandwich Man (1983) · The Boys From Fengkuei (1983) · A Summer at Grandpa's (1984) · A Time to Live, A Time to Die (1985) · Dust in the Wind (1986) · Daughter of the Nile (1987) · A City of Sadness (1989)1990s The Puppetmaster (1993) · Good Men, Good Women (1995) · Goodbye South, Goodbye (1996) · Flowers of Shanghai (1998)2000s Millennium Mambo (2001) · Café Lumière (2003) · Three Times (2005) · The Flight of the Red Balloon (2007)Shorts The Electric Princess House (2007)Golden Lion-winning films (1970–1989) No award (1970) · No award (1971) · No award (1972) · No award (1973) · No award (1974) · No award (1975) · No award (1976) · No award (1977) · No award (1978) · No award (1979) · Atlantic City/Gloria (1980) · Marianne and Juliane (1981) · The State of Things (1982) · First Name: Carmen (1983) · A Year of the Quiet Sun (1984) · Vagabond (1985) · The Green Ray (1986) · Au revoir les enfants (1987) · The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1988) · A City of Sadness (1989) ·
Categories:- 1989 films
- Taiwanese films
- Mandarin-language films
- Leone d'Oro winners
- War drama films
- Films directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
- 1980s drama films
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.