A City of Sadness feels like a fitting title, because much of the film is very grim. It takes place in Taiwan during the turbulent years that followed the end of World War II, with the entire place becoming contested and fought over by different groups. The impact it had on the people of Taiwan is mostly explored through a smaller group of characters standing in for the larger population, and seeing as I just saw Killers of the Flower Moon last week, it reminded me of that, in a way.
Scorsese's latest film is about events in a fairly small town, but it feels like the tragedies stand in for a much broader and wide-ranging spree of violence and discrimination committed over a long period of time. A City of Sadness feels a little similar; there aren't an overwhelming number of characters, but it uses those characters to hint at a much bigger event they were one unfortunate part of.
This was also a film where I had to look up certain things while watching, because while it gives some historical context through text at the start, there were other details I found a little confusing without doing some on the fly research. I wouldn't say that's a problem with the film necessarily, but I think things might've been a tad hard to follow without some knowledge of the historical events in question beforehand.
Still, the performances shine through either way, as does the blunt, somewhat straightforward, but ultimately effective look of the film. It's a tough sit at times, and it's unafraid to move fairly slow throughout (reminding me a bit of another acclaimed family drama film set in Taiwan, Yi Yi), but it's very well-made and made for a pretty absorbing 2.5 hours.
Scorsese's latest film is about events in a fairly small town, but it feels like the tragedies stand in for a much broader and wide-ranging spree of violence and discrimination committed over a long period of time. A City of Sadness feels a little similar; there aren't an overwhelming number of characters, but it uses those characters to hint at a much bigger event they were one unfortunate part of.
This was also a film where I had to look up certain things while watching, because while it gives some historical context through text at the start, there were other details I found a little confusing without doing some on the fly research. I wouldn't say that's a problem with the film necessarily, but I think things might've been a tad hard to follow without some knowledge of the historical events in question beforehand.
Still, the performances shine through either way, as does the blunt, somewhat straightforward, but ultimately effective look of the film. It's a tough sit at times, and it's unafraid to move fairly slow throughout (reminding me a bit of another acclaimed family drama film set in Taiwan, Yi Yi), but it's very well-made and made for a pretty absorbing 2.5 hours.