A beautiful, historical film based upon the complex lives of four brothers.
The entire first season of IMDb's first original scripted series, "You're Not a Monster," is available now.
Related News
-
Video Sundays: Hou Hsiao-hsien and Horror
18 May 2019 | MUBI -
BBC’s 100 Greatest Foreign-Language Films Ever: 209 Film Critics Crown ‘Seven Samurai,’ ‘In the Mood for Love,’ and More
30 October 2018 | Indiewire -
Film Analysis: Daughter of the Nile (1987) by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
26 September 2018 | AsianMoviePulse
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Share this Rating
Title: A City of Sadness (1989)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
8 wins & 6 nominations.
See more awards »
Learn more
More Like This
Biography
|
Drama
Director:
Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Stars:
Chia-bao Chang,
Neng Chang,
Chih-Chen Chen
Dust in the Wind
(1986)
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Stars:
Shu-Fang Chen,
Shu-Fen Hsin,
Chi-Ying Kao
The Puppetmaster
(1993)
Biography
|
Drama
|
War
Director:
Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Stars:
Tien-Lu Li,
Giong Lim,
Kuei-Chung Cheng
Flowers of Shanghai
(1998)
Drama
Director:
Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Stars:
Tony Chiu-Wai Leung,
Michiko Hada,
Michelle Reis
Goodbye, South, Goodbye
(1996)
Crime
|
Drama
Director:
Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Stars:
Jieh-Wen King,
Kuei-Ying Hsu,
Annie Shizuka Inoh
Good Men, Good Women
(1995)
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Stars:
Annie Shizuka Inoh,
Giong Lim,
Jack Kao
A Summer at Grandpa's
(1984)
Drama
Director:
Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Stars:
Chi-Kuang Wang,
Shu-Chen Li,
Hsiu-Ling Lin
Three Times
(2005)
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Stars:
Qi Shu,
Chen Chang,
Fang Mei
All the Youthful Days
(1983)
Drama
Director:
Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Stars:
Chun-Fang Chang,
Shih Chang,
Doze Niu
A Brighter Summer Day
(1991)
Crime
|
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Edward Yang
Stars:
Chen Chang,
Lisa Yang,
Kuo-Chu Chang
The Terrorizers
(1986)
Crime
|
Drama
Director:
Edward Yang
Stars:
Cora Miao,
Li-Chun Lee,
Wang An
Edit
Cast
| 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) |
|
|
Ikuyo Nakamura | ... | Shizuko |
| Chen-Nan Tsai | |||
|
|
Chang-Chiang Yang | ||
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
See All (15) »
Storyline
A beautiful, historical film based upon the complex lives of four brothers.
Plot Keywords:
part of trilogy | politics | family relationships | photographer | taiwan |Genres:
DramaCertificate:
See all certifications »Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
Edit
Edit
See more on IMDbPro »
See full technical specs »
Details
Release Date:
21 October 1989 (Taiwan) See more »Also Known As:
A City of Sadness See more »Edit
Box Office
Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$2,737Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
Edit
Did You Know?
Trivia
According to mangaka Kengo Hanazawa, this film was an inspiration for director Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" movie. See more »Frequently Asked Questions
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.Contribute to This Page
On IMDb TV, you can catch Hollywood hits and popular TV series at no cost. Select any poster below to play the movie, totally free!
Explore popular and recently added TV series available to stream now with Prime Video.
This is the only one of Hou Hsiao-hsien's films I caught at a retrospective of his work, and it's a tragedy because this film is so incredibly good. Hou's rigorous formal approach (highly geometrical framing, repetitive shots along axes, distinctive use of lived-in colors) provides a framework for the film to operate within its own world. Whereas Coppola's "Godfather" goes this way and that, without a significant coherence, visually or rhythmically, "City of Sadness" feels like an elegy to Taiwan and the family (in much the same way that "Underground" is an ode to what was once Yugoslavia). At times funny, sorrowful, and invigorating, I suppose that what makes this film so special is that it refuses to operate in "big moments" and focuses, like Ozu (who Hou is often compared to) on the little events that make life what it really is.