Credited cast: | |||
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung | ... | Wen-ching (as Tony Chiu Wai Leung) | |
Shu-Fen Hsin | ... | 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 |
![]() |
Chien-Ho Huang | ||
![]() |
Chien-ru Huang | ||
![]() |
Chi-Ying Kao | ... | Shopkeeper |
![]() |
Tien-Lu Li | ... | Ah-lu (as Tian-Lu Li) |
![]() |
Ju Lin | ||
![]() |
Lih-Ching Lin | ... | (as Liqing Lin) |
![]() |
Ching Lu | ... | Wu's father |
![]() |
Ikuyo Nakamura | ... | Shizuko |
Chen-Nan Tsai |
The story of a family embroiled in the "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s.
This is definitely one of my all-time favorite movies. Before watching A City of Sadness, I subconsciously had this notion that somehow there were certain ways (or methods) feature narrative films should be made. Oh how wrong I was. Experiencing this movie was like the first time I saw Asian art, no more like the first time I tasted Chinese food as a kid. It was more than different. It was delightful! This film totally enlightened me! This poetic masterpiece changed the way I view cinema. This film which deals with modernity of Taiwan, feels more like a Confucian ritual, an ancestral rite of some sort. And at the same time like many of Hou Hsiao-hsien's other films, this movie deals with the theme of 'growth'. Hou seems to tell us over and over again that growth is learning to say goodbye to the things we love. One beautiful movie. I strongly recommend it to the cinephiles who haven't yet tasted this great cinematic treat.