Beiqíng Chéngshì (1989)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 157 minuten
Alternative title: A City of Sadness
Country:
Hong-Kong / Taiwan
Directed by: Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Starst: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Hsin Shu-Fen and Chan Chung-Yung
IMDb score:
7,8 (6.940)
Releasedate: 21 October 1989
Beiqíng Chéngshì plot
When the Japanese occupation of Taiwan comes to an end in 1945, the island is in effect from the rain in the drop. The Chinese government attaches little value to the new territory, where unemployment is rising and discontent is rising, increasingly manifesting itself in violent conflicts. The film follows the Lin family and their ongoing struggle to survive in this turbulent period of Taiwanese history.
Actors and actresses
Wen-Ching
Wu Kuan Mei / Hinome
Wen-Heung
Wen Leung
Ah Jia
Ah Lu
Meidai
Mr. Wu
Singer
Mr. Huang
Reviews & comments
Spetie
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- 38871 messages
- 8252 votes
I agree with my predecessors. A film that's sometimes difficult to follow, with an overload of characters, interesting on paper, but less so in practice.
The film is incredibly slow. I was expecting something like Ozu's regular films, but this is quite different. The acting isn't bad, and some bits of history are quite interesting, even if they're rather one-sided. The music is also quite beautiful in places.
However, there are also a few tedious moments in between. Cinematically, there are certainly some beautiful scenes, but overall, the sum of the parts is just not enough.
2.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Mattson
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- 848 messages
- 1276 votes
Before this, I'd only seen some of Hou's more recent work, and visually, there's a clear difference. The pace remains slow and the camera static, but while this film still features beautiful framing, he still manages to give his shots and scenes that extra something in his more recent work.
As has been mentioned several times here, the story is sometimes a bit difficult to follow. This is partly due to the many characters and their relationships with others, which aren't always clear. The sometimes rather strange narrative jumps also make it difficult to follow. Furthermore, I don't think it's necessary to have a lot of background knowledge of Taiwanese history.
Finally, I found the film very similar in style to Ozu's films, even more so than Kohi Jiko, which was a tribute to that director.
Translated from Dutch · View original
mjk87 (moderator films)
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- 14602 messages
- 4555 votes
Sometimes beautiful, with a serene tranquility and typical scenes (somewhere near the end when two young lovers are simply having dinner together), but also far too long and occasionally incomprehensible. Partly because it's an unfamiliar story, though you do learn something about it as the film progresses, and partly because Asian names sometimes sound too similar for me. Then situations naturally become incomprehensible because I first have to remember who was who, and what their relationship was. This also makes the film very detached, which makes its length a bit of a drag. It's perfectly watchable for an hour, but after that, it becomes tedious and even boring. 2.0*.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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