All the Youthful Days (1983)

Ah-Ching and his friends have just finished school in their island fishing village, and now spend most of their time drinking and fighting. Three of them decide to go to the port city of ... See full summary »

Director:

Hsiao-Hsien Hou

Writer:

T'ien-wen Chu

Stars:

Chun-Fang Chang, Shih Chang, Grace Chen

1 win & 4 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Chun-Fang Chang
Shih Chang
Grace Chen
Doze Niu
Chao P'eng-chue
Tsung-Hua Tou	...	(as Tsung-Hua Tuo)
Li-Yin Yang

Storyline

Ah-Ching and his friends have just finished school in their island fishing village, and now spend most of their time drinking and fighting. Three of them decide to go to the port city of Kaohsiung to look for work. They find an apartment through relatives, and Ah-Ching is attracted to the girlfriend of a neighbor. There they face the harsh realities of the big city.

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Plot Keywords:

teenager | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Restored and transferred to 4K DCP by Cinematek, the royal cinema archive of Belgium, in 2015.

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Connections

Featured in Pirated Copy (2004)

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Soundtracks

Winter
from "The Four Seasons"
Written by Antonio Vivaldi

User Reviews

Hsiao-hsien developing his craft

In 2015 this film has been restored and transferred to 4K DCP, this is the version I saw. Of the early films I have seen of Hsiao-hsien, so far I like this one the least.

To get my criticism out of the way first, I found the pacing of the film not quite right. I like his slow style but it is very delicate; to get it right is an art in itself and in this movie it is just not quite there yet. The story also has some comedy aspects which I found didn't always work well.

Of course I am not Taiwanese and it is not 1983, that may be well be contributing factors in my being somewhat underwhelmed.

But don't get me wrong, I am in no way saying this is a bad film. It is just that some of the films he made a few years later, such as 'Dust in the wind' use many of the same techniques but do it much better. That film has some very similar scenes and plot lines.

We do see Hsiao-hsien's developing his style; there are some beautiful long shots of people doing mundane things. For instance, the female lead buys some flowers at a stall, and this simple moment is captured in a very humanistic and tender fashion.

I also love how the characters are internally conflicted but unable to express their feelings, and how this is conveyed in a minimalistic way. Scenes in which people say their goodbyes, life weighing heavy on their minds, but not acknowledging this to one another spring to mind.

I'd say that as an insight into the filmmaker's development it is definitely interesting to watch, but it is not yet masterful.

Details

Country:

Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin Min Nan

Release Date:

1983 (Taiwan)

Also Known As:

All the Youthful Days

Company Credits

Production Co:

Evergreen Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1