A Brighter Summer Day (1991)

Based on a true story, primarily on a conflict between two youth gangs, a 14-year-old boy's girlfriend conflicts with the head of one gang for an unclear reason, until finally the conflict comes to a violent climax.

Director:

Edward Yang

Writers:

Hung Hung, Mingtang Lai

Stars:

Chen Chang, Lisa Yang, Kuo-Chu Chang

10 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chen Chang	...	Xiao Si'r (Zhang Zhen)
Lisa Yang	...	Ming (Liu Zhiming)
Kuo-Chu Chang	...	Father
Elaine Jin	...	Mother
Chuan Wang	...	Eldest Sister
Han Chang	...	Elder Brother
Hsiu-Chiung Chiang	...	Middle Sister
Stephanie Lai	...	Youngest Sister (as Fanyun Lai)
Chi-tsan Wang	...	Cat (Wang Mao)
Lawrence Ko	...	Airplane (Ji Fei)
Chih-Kang Tan	...	Ma
Ming-Hsin Chang	...	Underpants (Mingxin) (as Mingxin Zhang)
Chun-Lung Jung	...	Bomber (Chang Po-wen)
Hui-Kuo Chou	...	Tiger (Xiao Hu) (as Huiguo Zhou)
Ching-Chi Liu	...	Hefty (Da Ge) (as Qingqi Liu)

Storyline

Based on a true story, primarily on a conflict between two youth gangs, a 14-year-old boy's girlfriend conflicts with the head of one gang for an unclear reason, until finally the conflict comes to a violent climax.

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Plot Keywords:

year 1959 | year 1960 | teenage boy | teenage girl | classroom | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on a true story.

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Goofs

(at around 130 mins) When Si'r shoots Ma's shotgun, sound of a firing can be heard, but the shotgun makes no recoil, indicating that the sound effect of the firing was used in the scene and no actual gun firing took place.

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Alternate Versions

Director's Cut is 237 minutes long.

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Connections

References The Misfits (1961)

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Soundtracks

Angel Baby
Composed by Rose Hamlin
Performed by Chi-tsan Wang

User Reviews

A lost masterpiece

I saw this film on screen in 2005. The place I saw it was an old-fashioned theater in the middle of Seoul, South Korea. The film print was one of the last surviving print of this film, which is now worn out too much for another screening. It was about three years ago, and I frankly do not much about the plot. Two things, however, were still in my mind. First of all, it was much more a film with tranquility. Think about Edward Yang's last film 'Yi Yi.' Do you remember the scene where there were two teenagers walking on the street and there were scarcely any sound effect but someone's monologue? The whole film was like that. The other thing is that, despite of it deals with serious subject matters such as Taiwan's cruel anti-communist regime, it still has a sense of humor: in fact, a plenty of it. For me, now this film is like a lost summer love: passionate but vague. If complicated copyright issues be solved and clean prints of this film to be found, I'd really like to recommend this film; it is a long four-hour movie, but every minute is worth it.

Details

Country:

Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin Min Nan Shanghainese English

Release Date:

25 November 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Brighter Summer Day

Filming Locations:

Taiwan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Yang & His Gang Filmmakers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

237 min 185 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1