A City of Sadness (1989)
"Bei qing cheng shi" (original title)

Director:

Hsiao-hsien Hou

Writers:

T'ien-wen Chu, Nien-Jen Wu

Stars:

Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Shufen Xin, Sung Young Chen

7 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Tony Leung Chiu Wai	...	Wen-ching
Shufen Xin	...	Hinome
Sung Young Chen	...	Wen-heung
Jack Kao	...	Wen Leung
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Wou Yi Fang	...	Hinoiei
Ai-yun Ho	...	Bg Brother Chie
Nakamura Ikuyo	...	Shizuko
Tianlu Li	...	Ah-lu
Ikuyo Nakamura	...	Shisuqo
Chen-Nan Tsai
Chang-Chiang Yang

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

family relationships | marriage | knife fight | japanese occupation | political uprising | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Hong Kong Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin Min Nan Japanese Cantonese

Release Date:

2 February 1990 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

A City of Sadness

Filming Locations:

Hokkien, China

Company Credits

Production Co:

3-H Films, ERA International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

157 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As revealed in scriptwriter Chu Tien-Wen's book, the original premise of this film is the reunion of an ex-gangster (which Hou Hsiao-Hsien intended to cast Chow Yun-fat for the role) and his former lover (supposedly played by Yang Li-Hua, the top Taiwanese Opera actress in real-life) in 1970s. Hou and Chu then extended the story to involve substantial flashbacks of the calamity of the woman's family in late 1940s (where the woman was the teenage daughter of Chen Song-Yong's character). They then abandoned the former premise and instead focused on the 1940s' story.

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Connections

Featured in The Story of Film: An Odyssey: Episode #1.13 (2011)

User Reviews

The greatest film of "The Greater China" cinema

Simply one of the best films ever made and certainly the best to have come out of China, Taiwan or Hong Kong. Forget about traumatic Taiwanese history, forget about other "epic" films from mainland China, or Taiwan, or Hong Kong. This one is one of the most profound statements about human condition and the relentless power of history. You can physically feel the winds of history blowing through a small hospital in the mountains, or a house of the person who will succumb to the inevitable, or a railway car caught in the middle of a massacre. Hou Hsiao-Hsien doesn't reconstruct history, he shows you human beings caught unawares and unable to cope with a totally unexpected avalanche of events destined to change their lives. Acting is superb, the mute character played by Tony Leung Chiu Wai (who, quite prosaically, couldn't speak Hokkien and had to be made mute) will haunt you for a very long time. One of the most underrated films from one of the most underrated directors. Spend two and a half hours of your life watching this, it's worth it. 10 out of 10.