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A Time to Live, a Time to Die

Original title: Tóngnián wangshì
  • 19851985
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 2h 18m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
3K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
Tóngnián wangshì (1985)
  • Biography
  • Drama
The semi-autobiographical film on director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's childhood and adolescence, when he was growing up in Taiwan, living through the deaths of his father, mother and grandmother.The semi-autobiographical film on director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's childhood and adolescence, when he was growing up in Taiwan, living through the deaths of his father, mother and grandmother.The semi-autobiographical film on director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's childhood and adolescence, when he was growing up in Taiwan, living through the deaths of his father, mother and grandmother.
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
3K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Hsiao-Hsien Hou
  • Writers
    • T'ien-wen Chu
    • Hsiao-Hsien Hou
    • Nien-Jen Wu
  • Stars
    • Chia-bao Chang
    • Neng Chang
    • Chih-Chen Chen
Top credits
  • Director
    • Hsiao-Hsien Hou
  • Writers
    • T'ien-wen Chu
    • Hsiao-Hsien Hou
    • Nien-Jen Wu
  • Stars
    • Chia-bao Chang
    • Neng Chang
    • Chih-Chen Chen
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 17User reviews
    • 16Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 8 wins & 5 nominations

    Photos

    Tóngnián wangshì (1985)
    Tóngnián wangshì (1985)
    Tóngnián wangshì (1985)
    Tóngnián wangshì (1985)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Chia-bao Chang
    Neng Chang
    Chih-Chen Chen
    Han-wen Chen
    Shu-Fang Chen
    Shu-Fang Chen
    Bao-te Chiang
    Tung-hung Chou
    Ai Hsiao
    Ai Hsiao
    Shu-Fen Hsin
    Shu-Fen Hsin
    • Hsiao's love interestas Hsiao's love interest
    Hsiang-Ping Hu
    Tung-lai Kao
    Chung-Wen Lin
    Kuo-bao Liu
    Cheng-ye Lo
    Shun-lin Lo
    Tse-chung Lo
    Fang Mei
    Fang Mei
    Mei-Feng
    • Director
      • Hsiao-Hsien Hou
    • Writers
      • T'ien-wen Chu
      • Hsiao-Hsien Hou
      • Nien-Jen Wu
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    This depiction of childhood and adolescence draws heavily from the filmmaker's own boyhood. Like many of their compatriots, 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. —International Film Circuit <ifcplanet@aol.com>
    • breast feeding
    • childhood
    • growing up
    • death of daughter
    • death of baby
    • 48 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genres
      • Biography
      • Drama
    • Certificate
      • Not Rated
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This film is inspired by screenwriter-turned-director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's coming-of-age story. It is the second installment of Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "Coming-of-Age Trilogy" that features three prominent Taiwanese screenwriters' coming-of-age stories - the other two are Dong dong de jiàqi (1984) (inspired by the childhood memories of Chu Tien-Wen) and Liàn liàn fengchén (1986) (inspired by the coming-of-age story of Wu Nien-Jen).
    • Connections
      Featured in Century of Cinema: Naamsaang-neuiseung (1998)

    User reviews17

    Review
    Top review
    Images of extraordinary power and beauty
    Seeking a better life, a teacher brings his family from Mei County in the Kwangtung Province of mainland China to Fengshan in the south of Taiwan in 1947. As a result of the Communist takeover on the mainland, the family is forced to remain in Taiwan, estranged from their traditional home and culture. The Time to Live and The Time to Die, a semi-autobiographical film by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien, is a compassionate story of a family's struggle to adapt to living in a new society. Loosely based on the childhood memories of Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien who came to Taiwan in 1948, the film chronicles the passing of the older generation and the emergence of the new. The director narrates the film from the point of view of the youngest son, Ah-Hsiao (You Anshun), called Ah-ha by his grandmother (Tang Yu-Yuen).

    The Time to Live is shot in a reflective style that allows an intimacy with the material. In the first half, the family learns to adjust to their new environment: the children play outside, the family eats dinner together and engage in small family rituals. Hou is observant of the political and technological changes taking place in the background, noting, for example, the increasing number of cars and motorcycles on the streets, the installation of electricity in their home, the improving medical treatment that the parents receive, and a letter from an aunt revealing the Great Leap Forward in China. What doesn't change, however, is the continued second class status of women, depicted in a scene where the mother lectures the daughters about their responsibilities for housework and how it must come before an education.

    As the family gets older, the longing for their homeland increases. On several occasions, the old grandmother becomes disoriented and asks shopkeepers for directions to the Mekong Bridge (in China). When she gets lost, she has to be returned home via taxicab. The second half of the film painfully shows the loss of parental guidance and the disintegration of the family. As illness sets in, the parent's pain and slow disintegration takes place directly in front of the camera, not in the background. Ah Hsiao and his siblings stoically endure the loss of both parents, but their growing involvement in delinquency and petty crime underscores the loss of structure in their lives.

    This is Hou's most personal film and one that is filled with images of extraordinary power. I was moved to see Ah Hsiao face when he sees death for the first time while walking into the room containing his father's body, and when the family shares loving recollections of the father soon after his death. Backed by a lyrical soundtrack, the street scenes and images of family life convey a rare authenticity and visual poetry. As in the film "Pather Panchali" by Satyajit Ray, the tiny village in Taiwan becomes a microcosm of the outside world. Like Ray's masterpiece, it is a sad film, yet, in its celebration of the wonder of life and the strength of the human spirit, it is also triumphant. The Time to Live and the Time to Die is not only a loving tribute of one son to his family but a testament to the strength of all families.
    helpful•19
    5
    • howard.schumann
    • Jan 6, 2003

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • 1988 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Taiwan
    • Official site
      • International Film Circuit
    • Languages
      • Mandarin
      • Hakka
    • Also known as
      • A Time to Live and a Time to Die
    • Filming locations
      • Taiwan
    • Production companies
      • Central Motion Pictures
      • Yi Fu Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      2 hours 18 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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