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*** This review may contain spoilers ***
The correct title of this film is simply "Dou-San," the name of Wu Nien-Jen's father. Wu, probably best known for writing two of Hou Hsiao-Hsien's most famous films, City of Sadness and The Puppetmaster (he also wrote Dust in the Wind for Hou and other scripts for Edward Yang, who had a big crossover hit with Yi Yi). Dou-San was educated in Japanese when that country controlled the island, but the members of his family prefer Mandarin, which he understands only partially. He loves his family, but feels a little isolated from them. The story centers around the relationship between father and son, from Wu's earliest memories to Dou-San's death in 1990 (the death is mentioned right away in the film, so this is not a spoiler). There are ups and downs, all very beautifully rendered by Wu. Personally, I found Hou Hsiao-Hsien's films tedious as hell, even the two I liked. My only real criticism of Dou-San is that Wu emulates Hou's style too closely. This was his first film, and he is a good friend and frequent collaborator with Hou, so that makes perfect sense. Wu even said that he first approached Hou to direct the film, but he said that, since it was a personal story about his own father, he should direct it. I'm at a loss to say why I prefer Dou-San to any of Hou's films that I've seen (the only important one I haven't seen is Flowers of Shanghai). I was lucky enough to see the film with its director present - a rare opportunity indeed, especially since I live in the Midwest (the print we saw was literally printed and shipped by Martin Scorsese himself, believe it or not; Wu's second film, Buddha Bless America, was the one that was originally scheduled, but no print could be found). Perhaps I was so touched simply because he was there. I was trying to imagine what emotions he was feeling as he watched the film. I'd like to think that's untrue, of course, and that I'd have loved the film if I had seen it without him there. I know, though, that there are at least half a dozen sequences that I'll remember forever from this film. 9/10.
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