SYNOPSIS

The film depicts the social and economic changes taking place in postwar Taiwan as reflected in the lives of ordinary working class teenagers. Ah-Ching and his friends have just finished school in their island fishing village.
They have little to do but spend time getting into trouble with the police. They play crude practical jokes, gamble, drink, fight, and chase girls as they wait for compulsory military service. The most introspective of the group, Ah-Ching lives in two worlds, the dissonant world of his buddies and the traditional culture that comes back to him in flashes of memory of his father when he was a young boy.
Boredom and lack of cash cause Ah-Ching and two friends to move to the port city of Kaohsiung, where their small-town naivete becomes apparent. They get jobs in a local factory, find an apartment through relatives, and Ah-Ching is attracted to the girlfriend of a neighbor. There they face the harsh realities of the big city.

TECHNICAL DATA

Director: Hou Hsiao Hsien
Script: T'ien-wen Chu
Cast: Shih Chang, Doze Niu, Chao P'eng-chue, Chung Hua Tou, Lai-Yin Yang, Chun-fang Zhang
Cinematography: Kun Ho Chen
Runtime: 101 min. COLOR.