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A City of Sadness

Original title: Bei qing cheng shi
  • 1989
  • 2h 37m
IMDb RATING
7.8/10
5.4K
YOUR RATING
A City of Sadness (1989)
DramaHistory

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.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.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.

  • Director
    • Hsiao-Hsien Hou
  • Writers
    • T'ien-wen Chu
    • Nien-Jen Wu
  • Stars
    • Tony Leung Chiu-wai
    • Shu-Fen Hsin
    • Sung-Young Chen
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.8/10
    5.4K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Hsiao-Hsien Hou
    • Writers
      • T'ien-wen Chu
      • Nien-Jen Wu
    • Stars
      • Tony Leung Chiu-wai
      • Shu-Fen Hsin
      • Sung-Young Chen
    • 13User reviews
    • 19Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 8 wins & 6 nominations

    Photos216

    A City of Sadness (1989)
    A City of Sadness (1989)
    A City of Sadness (1989)
    A City of Sadness (1989)
    A City of Sadness (1989)
    A City of Sadness (1989)
    A City of Sadness (1989)
    A City of Sadness (1989)
    A City of Sadness (1989)
    A City of Sadness (1989)
    A City of Sadness (1989)
    A City of Sadness (1989)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Tony Leung Chiu-wai
    Tony Leung Chiu-wai
    • Wen-ching
    • (as Tony Chiu Wai Leung)
    Shu-Fen Hsin
    Shu-Fen Hsin
    • Hinome
    Sung-Young Chen
    Sung-Young Chen
    • Wen-heung
    Jack Kao
    Jack Kao
    • Wen Leung
    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
    Ching Lu
    • Wu's father
    Ikuyo Nakamura
    • Shizuko
    Chen-Nan Tsai
    Chen-Nan Tsai
    Chang-Chiang Yang
    • Director
      • Hsiao-Hsien Hou
    • Writers
      • T'ien-wen Chu
      • Nien-Jen Wu
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Tony Leung Chiu-wai's character was made a deaf-mute because the film used direct sound and Leung could not convincingly speak Mandarin or Taiwanese.
    • Connections
      Featured in Century of Cinema: Naamsaang-neuiseung (1998)

    User reviews13

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    9/10
    Quiet transcendence
    A previous poster described this film as a Taiwanese Godfather, but better. Indeed, this film has a lot similarities to godfather, in which the most notable is the condensation of an entire nation into the life of one single family. Even though I never really come to love other Hou's films, City of Sadness is a flawless epic that truthfully depict an era that is forgotten by most of my generation. I have heard those stories from my paternal grandparents, who are like people portrait in the film, grass root Taiwanese. I have also heard stories from my maternal grandparents, who are the late comers from mainland China. The entire different perspectives surprised me that in such a small nation, mistrust is still profoundly rooted and transmitted via generations. City of Sadness portraits this image so hauntingly and yet with beautiful and quiet transcendence seeing the turmoil through the eyes of the deaf and mute son of the Lin family. Taiwan, the city of sadness, is eternally sorrowful because of its rootlessness, which until today, still runs in my blood.
    helpful•19
    6
    • utp0130
    • Jan 26, 2006

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 21, 1989 (Taiwan)
    • Country of origin
      • Taiwan
    • Languages
      • Mandarin
      • Min Nan
      • Japanese
      • Cantonese
      • Shanghainese
    • Also known as
      • Die Stadt der Traurigkeit
    • Filming locations
      • Jiu Fen, Taiwan
    • Production companies
      • 3H Films
      • Era Film Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross worldwide
      • $2,737
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      2 hours 37 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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