SYNOPSIS

A challenging, immensely moving semi-autobiographical portrait of two decades in the life of a Chinese family displaced from mainland China to Taiwan in the 1940s and 1950s, the film is, in certain respects, reminiscent of the Italian neorealism movement and the work of Satyajit Ray and Yasujiro Ozu.
This depiction of childhood and adolescence draws heavily from the filmmaker's own boyhood. Hou's family moved from the mainland to Taiwan in 1948 and was unable ever to return. The film focuses on the widening generation gap in a family cut off from its cultural heritage. Ah-ha moves with his family first to Taiwan to escape the communists, and then from North Taiwan to the South to accommodate his father's debilitating asthma.
The film's cheery first half, which charmingly depicts the family's inter-personal relationships, soon segues into heartrending turmoil as both parents die and Ah-ha becomes a delinquent, facing a hard path to adulthood.

TECHNICAL DATA

Director: Hou Hsiao Hsien
Script: T'ien-wen Chu, Hsiao-hsien Hou 
Cast: Mei-Feng, Yu-Yuen Tang, Feng Tien, Shufen Xin, Ann-Shuin Yiu
Cinematography: Pin Bing Lee
Runtime: 138 min. COLOR.