A City of Sadness (1989)

A beautiful, historical film based upon the complex lives of four brothers.

Director:

Hsiao-Hsien Hou

Writers:

T'ien-wen Chu, Nien-Jen Wu

Stars:

Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Shu-Fen Hsin, Sung Young Chen

8 wins & 6 nominations.

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)
Ching Lu	...	Wu's father
Ikuyo Nakamura	...	Shizuko
Chen-Nan Tsai

Storyline

A beautiful, historical film based upon the complex lives of four brothers.

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Plot Keywords:

part of trilogy | politics | family relationships | photographer | taiwan | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Did You Know?

Trivia

No.5 in the Hong Kong Film Awards' List of The Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures

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Connections

Followed by Good Men, Good Women (1995)

User Reviews

One of the world's most important films

Artistically, its greatness is not in dispute, but it is hard to overstate the importance of this film in political and social terms for Taiwan. The subject of the film, the February 28 Incident (the massacre of 20000 or more Taiwanese by Chinese Nationalist troops in 1947) had been completely been banned from public discussion by the now-defunct military government of Taiwan up until 1988 - only a year and a half before the film was released. To intervene so powerfully in a period of political and social change as Taiwan's democratic revolution in the late 1980s, makes the film as dramatic a re-configuring of a country's cultural landscape as any film has ever achieved.

Details

Country:

Hong Kong Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin Min Nan Japanese Cantonese Shanghainese

Release Date:

21 October 1989 (Taiwan)

Also Known As:

A City of Sadness

Filming Locations:

Hokkien, China

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,737

Company Credits

Production Co:

3-H Films, ERA International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

157 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1