SYNOPSIS

The film was conceived to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu. Hou pays homage to Ozu by depicting themes repeated in many of his films: relationships between aging parents, the marriage plans of a grown child, the coming and going on trains, and the quiet contemplation of everyday life.The story concerns Yôko, a young Japanese writer who is researching the life of a real Taiwanese musician Jiang Wen-ye, who was popular in Japan during the 1930s.
Yôko lives in Tokyo with her father and stepmother after coming back from Taiwan where she taught Japanese. She becomes friends with Hajime, the owner of a secondhand bookstore and they meet often in her favorite coffee shop, making small talk and enjoying the passing scene.
Hajime has an obsession for trains, spends his days riding the subway, recording the sound of trains, public address announcements, and the conversations of passengers. Though they are best friends and not lovers, he seems likely to be in love with Yôko and he is startled to find out that she is pregnant by a Taiwanese whom she does not want to marry. When Yôko reveals to her father and stepmother that she is pregnant, both of them urge her to marry. Yôko's uncertainty about marriage is reminiscent of some Ozu films on this subject.

TECHNICAL DATA

Director: Hou Hsiao Hsien
Script:T'ien-wen Chu, Hou Hsiao Hsien
Cast: Yo Hitoto, Tadanobu Asano,  Masato Hagiwara, Kimiko Yo, Nenji Kobayashi
Cinematography: Pin Bing Lee
Music: Yousui Inoue
Runtime: 103 min. COLOR.