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Don't interrupt me!
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I know when to stop.
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Okay.
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Here we go.
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Ten major construction projects in the 70s
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drove Taiwan's economic development.
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It was also the era
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of Taiwan's international defeat.
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Withdrawal from the UN,
breaking away from the US
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led to diplomatic isolation.
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Taiwan was isolated.
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As a result of those developments
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the middle-class grew more independent
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and demanded an allocation of power.
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00:01:41,042 --> 00:01:45,167
The history of Taiwan was revealed
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piece by piece.
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At this time,
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politics, the economy and culture mixed up.
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The Native Literature movement emerged
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telling stories of the island,
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while Cloud Gate told it with dances.
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The Folk Song movement
and Beautiful Island magazine
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then appeared.
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In the 80s, after the Formosa Incident,
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they became prominent.
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Most direct, artistically,
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were the small theater companies.
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Everyone had something to say.
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And then came Taiwan New Cinema.
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Its expression was on a grand scale,
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which was very powerful.
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00:02:50,083 --> 00:02:52,655
In The Boys From Fengkuei
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people dance by the sea, in the waves,
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and they migrate to the big cities.
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00:03:03,125 --> 00:03:05,875
In A City of Sadness
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we saw the process of time,
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the sacrifice of people.
38
00:03:13,083 --> 00:03:15,122
In That Day, On The Beach
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the social elite indulge past glories
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in an uncertain present.
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00:03:26,833 --> 00:03:29,333
In A Brighter Summer Day
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troubled youngsters
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try to release their pent-up energy.
44
00:03:36,875 --> 00:03:42,742
The collision of repressed emotions
is the theme of the 80s.
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Abolition of Martial Law in 1987.
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Liberation of cross-strait relations.
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00:03:56,792 --> 00:04:03,370
On the basis of what was founded in the 70s,
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great things were achieved in the 80s.
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Which shaped the open,
liberal society of Taiwan today.
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Among all this,
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theater, cinema, art and literature
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played critical roles.
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Done, isn't it?
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Thank you.
55
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In the corridor of a hospital
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a nurse is running.
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In the corridor of a hospital
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light flickers.
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A mosquito net...
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On a train,
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a man who can't speak.
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A young student is stabbed by her lover.
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About 20 years ago,
I was studying film in Chicago.
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I watched many different kinds of films.
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I was inspired by American experimental cinema.
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The Film Center showed many Asian films,
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from Iran and Taiwan.
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00:08:46,833 --> 00:08:50,417
Watching these films,
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I was stunned by their novelty.
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They were unfamiliar, a different form of film.
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They were the kind of films I was looking for.
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They were not experimental per se,
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but they connected to what I grew up with.
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Especially the films of Hou Hsiao-Hsien.
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They were part of why
I returned to work in Thailand.
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His work reminded me of home.
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And I recalled my life experience.
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I think his films dealt with memories.
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They were the spark that made
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me believe our memories have value.
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Film is memory.
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00:10:03,542 --> 00:10:13,957
New Taiwan Cinema continues
to influence my work.
83
00:10:15,167 --> 00:10:18,167
Often I think, after shooting,
84
00:10:18,167 --> 00:10:21,333
why did I frame like this?'
85
00:10:21,333 --> 00:10:27,833
and realize I'm recalling
Taiwan New Cinema films,
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their flat compositions,
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or using windows or doors
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to make a frame within a frame.
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It's usually straight and flat, not angled.
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Simple and austere.
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I must be influenced by them.
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00:11:02,542 --> 00:11:07,417
Another influence relates to time.
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00:11:07,417 --> 00:11:10,917
It makes me think I'm observing myself,
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00:11:10,917 --> 00:11:13,453
not watching a film.
95
00:11:24,500 --> 00:11:29,167
When I watch a film by Hou Hsiao-Hsien,
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00:11:29,167 --> 00:11:31,083
Edward Yang, Tsai Ming-Liang,
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I always fall asleep.
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00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:39,708
Years later, my films put audiences to sleep.
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I think, maybe, there's a special
power to these films
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that takes viewers to a different world,
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a different state of relaxation,
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where we can leave ourselves behind.
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Film transports us to a dream world,
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then as we wake, we're still there,
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almost like a unique voyage.
106
00:12:54,375 --> 00:12:56,375
The first film I watched was
The Boys from Fengkuei.
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I remember very clearly.
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How stunned I was.
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It had such exceptional freshness and talent.
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00:13:49,958 --> 00:13:52,417
Freshness refers to
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00:13:52,417 --> 00:13:56,281
the ease of access into this cinema, for me.
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00:13:57,375 --> 00:14:01,583
It took me back to the origin of films,
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to the era of silent films.
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The Sandwich Man and In Our Time,
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these films were a success.
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00:14:15,792 --> 00:14:22,833
Followed by A Summer at Grandpa's
and A Time to Live, A Time to Die,
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00:14:22,833 --> 00:14:31,000
and Edward Yang's Taipei Story,
and The Terrorizers...
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00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:36,784
All these films acquired
a cultural identity for Taiwan.
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00:15:35,750 --> 00:15:37,625
After thirty years
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I can still feel that freshness,
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00:15:44,417 --> 00:15:46,583
that feeling of going back to the beginning.
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Maybe it didn't happen consciously
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or they were not very clear about the origins,
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but they somehow uncovered something original.
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00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,493
1983 and the following years
were just like a miracle.
126
00:16:31,542 --> 00:16:34,292
It's hard to know where to start talking
about New Taiwan Cinema
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00:16:34,292 --> 00:16:40,167
because I think it fits into a bigger picture
of renewal occurred right across East Asia,
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00:16:40,167 --> 00:16:42,208
in the various countries of East Asia,
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00:16:42,208 --> 00:16:46,701
and it's still in progress even
as we speak actually, it isn't finished yet.
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00:16:48,583 --> 00:16:51,958
My introduction to New Taiwan Cinema
came in the person of Edward Yang.
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00:16:51,958 --> 00:16:59,449
He came to London Film Festival
with In Our Time in 1983.
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I was working for the festival at the time,
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I met him there and had to look after him
and we became friends
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and remained so until his death.
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00:17:10,125 --> 00:17:12,125
Although the film was not
brand new at that point,
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it took somewhat two years
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to reach London Film Festival,
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but I believe it was its first screening
outside of Taiwan.
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00:17:18,625 --> 00:17:28,958
And Edward was still very much in the
first flush of solidarity with his colleagues.
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00:17:28,958 --> 00:17:34,541
So he arrived with a stack of U-Matic tapes
of other films recently made.
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00:17:39,333 --> 00:17:41,167
At that time he was tremendously
supportive of Hou Hsiao-Hsien,
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he had recommended him to do classical music
for the soundtrack of the Boys from Fengkuei,
143
00:17:46,500 --> 00:17:52,542
and they were very supportive and working quite
closely with each other at that time.
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00:17:52,542 --> 00:17:57,625
For me, I guess the main figures came to be
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00:17:57,625 --> 00:18:00,707
Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao-Hsien of course,
146
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and Wu Nian-Chen who
became director a bit later.
147
00:18:04,458 --> 00:18:08,916
But the other filmmaker I liked the most in
those early years was Ko I-Chen.
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I thought he was a little different
from the others,
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much more interested in formal
and stylistic experiments,
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he seemed to be less political,
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less engaged with the project, if you like.
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Loosely she has done up her hair;
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00:18:44,167 --> 00:18:46,952
Thinly she has powdered her face.
154
00:18:47,458 --> 00:18:50,792
In rosy smoke and purple mist
she looks so fair;
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00:18:50,792 --> 00:18:53,411
As light as willow down she walks with grace.
156
00:18:54,875 --> 00:18:57,163
Before we part, we long to meet;
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Amorous, she seems not in love.
158
00:19:02,417 --> 00:19:04,375
I should write literature.
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00:19:04,375 --> 00:19:06,663
I have such passion in my heart.
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00:19:07,083 --> 00:19:09,542
My eyes give away my presumptions,
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00:19:09,542 --> 00:19:11,458
and my lips will tell you
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I love you.
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00:19:47,542 --> 00:19:52,500
Marco, you returned from China in 1978,
and immediately went to...
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00:19:52,500 --> 00:19:57,250
Hong Kong, where everyone told me...
165
00:19:57,250 --> 00:19:59,875
By that time I often met
Edward Yang in Hong Kong.
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00:19:59,875 --> 00:20:06,333
When he completed his first feature in 1981,
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he mentioned to me
two collective film projects.
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From these collective films
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you could see something developing that
might turn into a movement.
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00:20:59,958 --> 00:21:05,790
The most important thing was the invention
of a new type of production.
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Even though everything was
under the control of the CMPC,
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the giant semi-governmental film organization,
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for quite a long time
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there was a stunning atmosphere
of creative freedom.
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After unveiling New Taiwan Cinema
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and the Hong Kong New Wave,
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I was eager to explore much more.
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But we decided to focus on Taiwan New Cinema.
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In 1984, in Pesaro,
we held the first retrospective
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00:21:56,792 --> 00:22:00,542
which included important documents
and film reviews
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that hadn't previously been seen.
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00:22:28,167 --> 00:22:32,250
So, you witnessed the development
of Taiwan cinema?
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At first I knew nothing about Taiwan cinema.
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At that time, no one was
familiar with Chinese cinema,
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past or present.
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Marco Müller held a retrospective
for Chinese films
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at the Torino Film Festival in 1981.
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Taiwan cinema was banned for political reasons.
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It was incredible enough
to see any Chinese film in Europe!
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Taiwanese and Chinese cinemas
couldn't possibly coexist.
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It was all vague and unclear.
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All information and messages were
partial and incomplete.
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00:23:19,917 --> 00:23:23,542
We didn't know about
the background of these films.
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Tesson and I were trying to
establish some framework
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to introduce Chinese-language films,
196
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and to learn their scope and history.
197
00:23:35,583 --> 00:23:39,199
When I started research in Hong Kong in 1984
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the new Chinese cinema was Hong Kong.
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To my surprise, around the same time,
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new cinemas were emerging in several places
out of various backgrounds.
201
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There was no commercial studio system,
as in Hong Kong,
202
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there was the very peculiar system
of the Republic of China.
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While Taiwan was almost like a desert.
204
00:24:08,875 --> 00:24:10,875
No!
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I don't think Taiwan was a film desert.
206
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On the contrary, it had great variety,
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with a stable audience, though not a young one.
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00:24:26,417 --> 00:24:29,208
Unlike genre films in Hong Kong,
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or commercial Hollywood,
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which focus on youngsters,
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Taiwan cinema maintained historical values.
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It was inspired by literature,
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00:24:46,417 --> 00:24:53,374
with genres like the melodrama,
and mostly for mature audiences.
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00:25:12,292 --> 00:25:15,374
Mei, you started to tell me something?
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00:25:19,417 --> 00:25:21,408
Nothing, cousin.
216
00:25:23,417 --> 00:25:26,416
You believe wishes can bring happiness?
217
00:25:29,708 --> 00:25:32,198
Sometimes. Why do you ask?
218
00:25:35,958 --> 00:25:37,831
I wish you happiness for ever.
219
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Thank you.
220
00:25:48,583 --> 00:25:52,458
But it's true that in Taiwan things
shaped up differently,
221
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because there were artists and writers,
who nourished New Taiwan Cinema,
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with their new ideas, like Wu Nien-Chen.
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That's where a generation of filmmakers
met their national history.
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00:26:55,042 --> 00:26:59,416
Hello, this is the Secretary General to
the Ambassador of the United States of America.
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I think I'm the wrong guy to ask
about the duration of the movement,
226
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because I never resort it
as a movement in the first place.
227
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I didn't really see a cohesiveness of a purpose
228
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except in the very early stages.
229
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It was a scattered and dispersed group.
230
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What they really had in common
was the desire to do different.
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00:27:28,583 --> 00:27:32,750
They wanted to make a different kind of film,
in a different way,
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different style,
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more in tune with international cinema.
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00:27:36,208 --> 00:27:38,994
They wanted something that
could be shown internationally,
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that could hold its head up internationally,
236
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over-standarded,
237
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that could match the best
out there in the world,
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and at the same time
to be assertively Taiwanese,
239
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in a way that would force the world
to recognize that
240
00:27:58,042 --> 00:28:01,373
there was something happening in Taiwan.
That is distinct and special.
241
00:28:39,125 --> 00:28:42,408
A-Suat, your uncle has been captured.
242
00:28:43,125 --> 00:28:46,041
We don't know where he is.
243
00:28:47,708 --> 00:28:49,416
We thought about escaping
244
00:28:50,042 --> 00:28:52,413
but where to?
245
00:29:05,917 --> 00:29:09,625
I became programmer
at the Venice Film Festival,
246
00:29:09,625 --> 00:29:13,958
in charge of Japan and Greater China.
247
00:29:13,958 --> 00:29:18,202
I thought it was time to make a push
248
00:29:18,417 --> 00:29:25,625
so that a Taiwanese film, A City of Sadness,
could be in competition.
249
00:29:25,625 --> 00:29:29,625
The old lion of Chinese cinema,
director Xie Jin,
250
00:29:29,625 --> 00:29:37,250
convinced the jury, chaired by
the Italian Pupi Avati,
251
00:29:37,250 --> 00:29:42,167
that this film was a discovery,
252
00:29:42,167 --> 00:29:46,167
that it will make history in Chinese cinema,
253
00:29:46,167 --> 00:29:49,250
that they should give it an important award,
254
00:29:49,250 --> 00:29:55,081
and be the ones marking
a new chapter in cinema history.
255
00:29:56,292 --> 00:30:01,500
It assured Taiwan's existence.
256
00:30:01,500 --> 00:30:09,583
At that point there had been
the first of many diplomatic incidents.
257
00:30:09,583 --> 00:30:14,792
Taiwan's flag was hung on
the Palazzo del Cinema.
258
00:30:14,792 --> 00:30:20,083
We had to bring it down after
an official Chinese protest.
259
00:30:20,083 --> 00:30:26,542
I was staying across the street
at The Excelsior Hotel.
260
00:30:26,542 --> 00:30:33,000
We received the whole Taiwanese team
with their national flags,
261
00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:38,625
so they could meet the press
and do television interviews
262
00:30:38,625 --> 00:30:42,157
without losing their identity as a nation.
263
00:30:42,708 --> 00:30:46,205
Although we received a prize
there are more things to do.
264
00:30:46,708 --> 00:30:48,667
You can't get overwhelmed by it.
265
00:30:48,667 --> 00:30:50,250
Now I think we won't.
266
00:30:50,250 --> 00:30:52,041
Actually we are very clear,
267
00:30:52,208 --> 00:30:54,414
we'll keep working hard.
268
00:30:56,458 --> 00:30:58,035
The sad truth is,
269
00:30:58,333 --> 00:31:03,205
New Taiwan films, with the partially
exception of Yi Yi,
270
00:31:03,500 --> 00:31:07,250
didn't really break through into box offices.
271
00:31:07,250 --> 00:31:13,042
They didn't reach that kind of traction
in distribution terms.
272
00:31:13,042 --> 00:31:16,455
The films these masters have made,
273
00:31:17,042 --> 00:31:20,788
are on the whole quite difficult
for the audiences.
274
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:27,833
They insist on looking at
aspects of Taiwan life,
275
00:31:27,833 --> 00:31:30,250
aspects of Taiwan modern history,
276
00:31:30,250 --> 00:31:34,167
that will destined to remain elusive
to the general audience.
277
00:31:34,167 --> 00:31:36,000
The general audience is never
going to understand about
278
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,708
the White Terror purges of the 1950's,
279
00:31:38,708 --> 00:31:43,458
they will never understand what it means
to be a native Taiwanese
280
00:31:43,458 --> 00:31:47,156
v.s. an immigrant of Main Land China.
281
00:31:47,750 --> 00:31:52,989
They will never understand the social
or the psychological resonances
282
00:31:53,792 --> 00:31:58,125
despite the fact that heroic filmmakers
like Hou Hsiao-Hsien,
283
00:31:58,125 --> 00:32:01,207
have done their best to explain
these things through their art.
284
00:32:02,083 --> 00:32:07,000
It's never going to be a meaningful issue
in the minds of most viewers.
285
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:13,333
However, the fact that these people approached
this kind of work with such seriousness,
286
00:32:13,333 --> 00:32:15,491
and with such aesthetic innovation,
287
00:32:15,792 --> 00:32:19,625
the fact that they came with
so many brilliant new ideas
288
00:32:19,625 --> 00:32:26,042
in terms of film language,
framing, mise en scene;
289
00:32:26,042 --> 00:32:29,622
in particular the way they approached
long mise en scene,
290
00:32:30,792 --> 00:32:32,958
has had an enormous
influence on a lot of people
291
00:32:32,958 --> 00:32:36,953
on the most widely scattered areas and places.
292
00:33:15,875 --> 00:33:17,701
Look what I found at home,
293
00:33:22,458 --> 00:33:24,708
the program booklet from Lugones Theater.
294
00:33:24,708 --> 00:33:27,708
The Taiwan New Cinema programme?
295
00:33:27,708 --> 00:33:29,000
And it's still intact.
296
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:30,458
It's been thirteen years,
297
00:33:30,458 --> 00:33:33,167
I kept it in a closet
298
00:33:33,167 --> 00:33:36,284
with all my scripts, films and catalogues.
299
00:33:39,083 --> 00:33:43,625
I sort of grew up with Hou Hsiao-Hsien.
300
00:33:43,625 --> 00:33:47,241
I've followed his films since the 80s.
301
00:33:47,958 --> 00:33:50,583
In Argentina? Before BAFICI Film Festival?
302
00:33:50,583 --> 00:33:52,375
No, not here.
303
00:33:52,375 --> 00:33:55,208
I lived in New York in the 80s.
304
00:33:55,208 --> 00:33:56,667
I saw them over there.
305
00:33:56,667 --> 00:33:59,250
Not in a movie theatre
306
00:33:59,250 --> 00:34:01,875
but a small Asian film festival
held in Chinatown.
307
00:34:01,875 --> 00:34:06,292
I first watched a film by Hou Hsiao-Hsien,
308
00:34:06,292 --> 00:34:09,244
and I loved it right away.
309
00:34:10,042 --> 00:34:15,333
So I started to follow
Taiwanese cinema closely,
310
00:34:15,333 --> 00:34:18,830
and was enchanted by it.
311
00:34:20,375 --> 00:34:25,458
What image do you keep
of Taiwan and its directors?
312
00:34:25,458 --> 00:34:28,667
Not the image of a nation, but rather
313
00:34:28,667 --> 00:34:33,208
of a certain cinema.
314
00:34:33,208 --> 00:34:37,667
To me, Taiwanese cinema is
the only one that feels intimate to me,
315
00:34:37,667 --> 00:34:42,125
like the New Wave in the 60s.
316
00:34:42,125 --> 00:34:49,375
But the 60s is not my generation,
317
00:34:49,375 --> 00:34:53,625
New Taiwan Cinema seemed closer to me.
318
00:34:53,625 --> 00:34:57,250
Not to a certain director,
but to many directors.
319
00:34:57,250 --> 00:35:01,917
I was told Taiwan New Cinema refers only to
320
00:35:01,917 --> 00:35:06,208
certain films made between 1982 and 1986.
321
00:35:06,208 --> 00:35:09,417
So there were only a few, the later
322
00:35:09,417 --> 00:35:12,997
development of the directors varies.
323
00:35:15,167 --> 00:35:19,292
I got to know them as a whole,
all the New Waves...
324
00:35:19,292 --> 00:35:20,958
Was it the result of film festivals?
325
00:35:20,958 --> 00:35:25,167
No, because they aren't my contemporaries
326
00:35:25,167 --> 00:35:30,619
so I'm learning to appreciate this complicated
327
00:35:30,875 --> 00:35:35,829
and somewhat slower cinema.
328
00:36:39,500 --> 00:36:40,615
What's wrong?
329
00:36:44,500 --> 00:36:47,072
I failed my maths exam.
330
00:36:49,125 --> 00:36:51,081
Why didn't you get help?
331
00:38:02,667 --> 00:38:04,833
My name is Ichiyama Shozo,
332
00:38:04,833 --> 00:38:07,250
I'm a film producer.
333
00:38:07,250 --> 00:38:10,125
I worked with Hou Hsiao-Hsien
on Good Men, Good Women,
334
00:38:10,125 --> 00:38:15,364
Goodbye South, Goodbye and Flowers of Shanghai.
335
00:38:15,833 --> 00:38:20,539
Then I became Jia Zhangke's producer.
336
00:38:24,667 --> 00:38:31,250
After The Puppetmaster screened
at the Tokyo Film Festival
337
00:38:31,250 --> 00:38:34,667
someone from Hou's company contacted me.
338
00:38:34,667 --> 00:38:38,875
They were in pre-production
for his next project,
339
00:38:38,875 --> 00:38:41,792
but an investor withdrew abruptly
340
00:38:41,792 --> 00:38:45,833
which caused them problems.
341
00:38:45,833 --> 00:38:54,035
They asked if a Japanese company could invest.
342
00:38:59,125 --> 00:39:03,042
I don't know if other
Taiwanese directors work like this
343
00:39:03,042 --> 00:39:07,208
or only Hou Hsiao-Hsien.
344
00:39:07,208 --> 00:39:11,417
But for the Japanese,
345
00:39:11,417 --> 00:39:15,333
it's such a free way
to make films, it's unimaginable.
346
00:39:15,333 --> 00:39:18,208
You could argue that it's extravagant,
347
00:39:18,208 --> 00:39:20,532
but that's how he makes films.
348
00:39:36,500 --> 00:39:43,208
I worked with Hou Hsiao-Hsien
about ten years ago.
349
00:39:43,208 --> 00:39:48,909
At this secondhand bookstore we made the film
Café Lumière.
350
00:39:49,333 --> 00:39:52,250
I appreciate his way of directing,
351
00:39:52,250 --> 00:39:57,204
it emphasizes the actors.
352
00:40:00,750 --> 00:40:03,042
Sometimes we would finish a scene
353
00:40:03,042 --> 00:40:06,042
and he'd do the same scene the next day.
354
00:40:06,042 --> 00:40:08,958
In Japan, that's considered a re-take
and is usually avoided
355
00:40:08,958 --> 00:40:11,542
unless there is some critical problem.
356
00:40:11,542 --> 00:40:14,042
But he shot the same scene over many days.
357
00:40:14,042 --> 00:40:18,500
One day I asked him why we kept re-shooting.
358
00:40:18,500 --> 00:40:19,917
He said to me:
359
00:40:19,917 --> 00:40:21,625
"Because you look more lively today."
360
00:40:21,625 --> 00:40:25,667
Then I understood the fundamental point.
361
00:40:26,292 --> 00:40:29,540
The most important thing in film is
to capture the energy of actors.
362
00:40:35,750 --> 00:40:38,583
Not only humans, but also the weather,
363
00:40:38,583 --> 00:40:40,708
the atmosphere,
364
00:40:40,708 --> 00:40:42,125
and the location.
365
00:40:42,125 --> 00:40:44,828
He focuses on these.
366
00:40:46,792 --> 00:40:49,458
I met him once before the shooting.
367
00:40:49,458 --> 00:40:52,000
I was surprised right away.
368
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:56,208
The production booked him a nice hotel
369
00:40:56,208 --> 00:40:58,042
but he cancelled it and moved to
370
00:40:58,042 --> 00:41:00,375
a business hotel near New Okubo Station.
371
00:41:00,375 --> 00:41:03,575
I was told to meet him there.
372
00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:05,826
When I met him,
373
00:41:06,917 --> 00:41:13,042
he seemed less like a filmmaker
than a friendly uncle.
374
00:41:13,042 --> 00:41:18,707
Right away I said to myself,
I'll enjoy working with him.
375
00:41:28,542 --> 00:41:31,458
This is Koryukaku Hotel,
376
00:41:31,458 --> 00:41:33,250
in front of New Okubo Station
377
00:41:33,250 --> 00:41:37,000
where Hou usually stays in Tokyo.
378
00:41:37,000 --> 00:41:45,375
Often I took him back here for meetings.
379
00:41:45,375 --> 00:41:51,875
It feels familiar, it's a place with memories.
380
00:41:51,875 --> 00:42:00,492
The last scene of Millennium Mambo
was shot here.
381
00:44:35,750 --> 00:44:39,164
I've worked in films for 30 years.
382
00:44:40,167 --> 00:44:42,958
That's not the point,
383
00:44:42,958 --> 00:44:48,667
but the 30th anniversary of Taiwan New Cinema
384
00:44:48,667 --> 00:44:55,458
is also my 30th anniversary.
385
00:44:55,458 --> 00:44:57,331
Maybe that's destiny.
386
00:44:58,667 --> 00:45:00,167
I find it interesting.
387
00:45:00,167 --> 00:45:03,284
And I'm honored to talk about it.
388
00:45:07,792 --> 00:45:18,207
I'd say it's Edward Yang's films
that inspired me.
389
00:45:20,208 --> 00:45:27,875
The first one I saw was A Brighter Summer Day.
390
00:45:27,875 --> 00:45:31,333
It left a deep impression.
391
00:45:31,333 --> 00:45:36,042
Then Mahjong,
392
00:45:36,042 --> 00:45:40,292
A Confucian Confusion, Yi Yi.
393
00:45:40,292 --> 00:45:45,080
All his films affect me profoundly.
394
00:47:08,917 --> 00:47:13,575
I don't think Taiwan films at that time
395
00:47:14,625 --> 00:47:20,208
captured Taiwan in a raw fashion.
396
00:47:20,208 --> 00:47:23,417
On the contrary, their film language
was sophisticated.
397
00:47:23,417 --> 00:47:26,369
They didn't build sets,
398
00:47:27,292 --> 00:47:33,292
and used real people and locations.
399
00:47:33,292 --> 00:47:36,625
By carefully using existing elements
400
00:47:36,625 --> 00:47:43,917
they achieved cinematic results.
401
00:47:43,917 --> 00:47:51,458
And they all had individual styles.
402
00:47:51,458 --> 00:48:01,874
The films looked natural
and dramatic at the same time.
403
00:49:13,625 --> 00:49:19,291
Taiwan cinema is well-known in Japan
404
00:49:19,667 --> 00:49:23,667
although some directors' films
405
00:49:23,667 --> 00:49:28,125
have never been introduced here.
406
00:49:28,125 --> 00:49:33,667
One of them is Wang Tung.
407
00:49:33,667 --> 00:49:35,667
It's such a pity,
408
00:49:35,667 --> 00:49:39,208
I love his work very much.
409
00:49:39,208 --> 00:49:41,250
All of his films are great.
410
00:49:41,250 --> 00:49:45,743
I especially like Banana Paradise.
411
00:49:46,958 --> 00:49:52,292
The Chinese Nationalists
lost the civil war and fled to Taiwan.
412
00:49:52,292 --> 00:50:02,707
The clash between locals and the newcomers
413
00:50:03,417 --> 00:50:13,124
saw the emergence of new values.
414
00:50:13,458 --> 00:50:22,917
The ordinary people who constituted
Taiwanese society
415
00:50:22,917 --> 00:50:30,076
turned their sorrows into humor.
416
00:50:30,708 --> 00:50:33,245
It might be a bit rude to say,
417
00:50:33,667 --> 00:50:35,824
but it deeply touches my heart.
418
00:50:47,333 --> 00:50:49,740
Stop.
419
00:50:50,167 --> 00:50:51,167
What now?
420
00:50:51,167 --> 00:50:54,417
I don't understand the song you're singing.
421
00:50:54,417 --> 00:50:57,451
I'll sing a song.
422
00:50:58,167 --> 00:50:59,625
Let me begin.
423
00:51:00,292 --> 00:51:05,448
"I hold a gun against my shoulder..."
424
00:51:08,792 --> 00:51:13,917
"a grenade hangs from my chest."
425
00:51:13,917 --> 00:51:17,081
"Chin up, chest out!"
426
00:51:17,375 --> 00:51:20,125
Another song!
427
00:51:20,917 --> 00:51:22,958
Let's sing My Hometown (Mandarin)
428
00:51:22,958 --> 00:51:24,250
Whose Town? (Taiwanese)
429
00:51:24,250 --> 00:51:25,500
Home-town.
430
00:51:25,500 --> 00:51:27,207
What-Town?
431
00:51:27,833 --> 00:51:37,875
"Oh, fellows in my home town"
432
00:51:37,875 --> 00:51:40,875
"come join the army
and serve your country."
433
00:51:40,875 --> 00:51:46,292
"Since the Japanese invasion,"
434
00:51:46,292 --> 00:51:48,750
"my wife and children have suffered."
435
00:51:48,750 --> 00:51:58,833
There's a certain sadness
within Taiwanese society.
436
00:51:58,833 --> 00:52:07,035
Before claiming its identity,
437
00:52:09,667 --> 00:52:10,947
it's hard to say...
438
00:52:11,417 --> 00:52:16,583
Taiwan had adopted both
Chinese and Japanese culture,
439
00:52:16,583 --> 00:52:20,583
in addition to other cultures.
440
00:52:20,583 --> 00:52:27,992
Well, highlighting the uniqueness of Taiwan...
441
00:52:34,708 --> 00:52:38,833
My father was born in Kaoshiung.
442
00:52:40,958 --> 00:52:45,333
He also had his education there.
443
00:52:45,333 --> 00:52:47,208
He went to high school in Chiayi.
444
00:52:47,208 --> 00:52:49,745
He grew up in the south of Taiwan.
445
00:52:50,417 --> 00:52:54,791
After graduation from high school
446
00:52:57,375 --> 00:53:01,292
he worked in Lushun, China,
447
00:53:01,292 --> 00:53:04,125
then completed his military service
448
00:53:04,125 --> 00:53:06,200
and was sent to Siberia.
449
00:53:06,750 --> 00:53:08,792
3 years after the end of the war
450
00:53:08,792 --> 00:53:11,246
he arrived for the first time in Japan.
451
00:53:12,917 --> 00:53:20,953
Though he had a perilous youth
452
00:53:21,500 --> 00:53:27,958
he said he had a great life in Taiwan.
453
00:53:27,958 --> 00:53:30,708
It's one of the small parts of his life
454
00:53:30,708 --> 00:53:37,666
where he could live carefree.
455
00:53:38,042 --> 00:53:42,417
He always mentioned how good the bananas were,
456
00:53:42,417 --> 00:53:44,458
or how tasty the pineapple was.
457
00:53:44,458 --> 00:53:47,825
He said these things repeatedly.
458
00:53:47,958 --> 00:53:53,577
When I was little, whenever he was
in a good mood
459
00:53:53,958 --> 00:53:57,458
he'd bring some pineapples home
460
00:53:57,458 --> 00:54:04,867
and slice them up like this.
461
00:54:05,958 --> 00:54:07,375
As we enjoyed the pineapple
462
00:54:07,375 --> 00:54:08,292
he was there murmuring
463
00:54:08,292 --> 00:54:11,374
"the ones from Taiwan taste much better."
464
00:54:19,583 --> 00:54:28,167
So when I finally watched
A Time to Live, A Time to Die,
465
00:54:28,167 --> 00:54:30,703
it connected to my childhood,
466
00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:37,333
with certain unspoken intimacy,
467
00:54:39,125 --> 00:54:41,615
which wasn't a bad thing.
468
00:54:42,458 --> 00:54:46,292
But personally, when I grew up,
469
00:54:46,292 --> 00:54:52,125
and thought about the relation
between Japan and Taiwan
470
00:54:52,125 --> 00:54:56,125
I couldn't simply cover it
471
00:54:56,125 --> 00:55:00,202
with my father's carefree youth, could I?
472
00:55:01,750 --> 00:55:03,160
I was deeply moved by that film
473
00:55:04,667 --> 00:55:08,080
and I thought this is what I want to shoot.
474
00:55:09,542 --> 00:55:14,828
Honestly, Japanese films in the 80s,
475
00:55:15,417 --> 00:55:19,874
though there were some directors I respect,
476
00:55:20,375 --> 00:55:24,322
there weren't any that I wanted to follow.
477
00:55:27,250 --> 00:55:29,786
It was like the match I'd been waiting for.
478
00:55:39,875 --> 00:55:43,250
This is the Chigasaki Kan hotel,
479
00:55:43,250 --> 00:55:45,740
about one hour from Tokyo.
480
00:55:46,458 --> 00:55:53,333
Ozu Yasujiro and Noda Kogo,
the director and writer duo,
481
00:55:54,583 --> 00:55:55,958
used to work in this room.
482
00:55:55,958 --> 00:55:57,750
It would have looked exactly as it is now.
483
00:55:57,750 --> 00:56:01,282
They wrote the screenplay for Tokyo Story here.
484
00:56:21,500 --> 00:56:24,833
When a Japanese watches Taiwan cinema
485
00:56:24,833 --> 00:56:27,542
what he'd notice first is
486
00:56:27,542 --> 00:56:33,708
how Taiwan inherits Japanese culture.
487
00:56:33,708 --> 00:56:36,708
For example, in A Summer At Grandpa's,
488
00:56:36,708 --> 00:56:41,625
Dong Dong visits his grandpa
in the countryside.
489
00:56:41,625 --> 00:56:43,958
His grandpa is a doctor
490
00:56:43,958 --> 00:56:50,042
and his clinic is in an old building.
491
00:56:50,042 --> 00:56:55,083
I'd not seen such buildings abroad.
492
00:56:55,083 --> 00:57:03,748
It's a typical Japanese countryside
clinic of the old days.
493
00:57:43,625 --> 00:57:45,292
Those scenes evoke nostalgia.
494
00:57:45,292 --> 00:57:50,542
However, even though it's
reminiscent of sweet memories,
495
00:57:50,542 --> 00:57:54,868
it's difficult to feel delight,
496
00:57:55,500 --> 00:57:59,458
because colonial history is always dark.
497
00:57:59,458 --> 00:58:04,081
The locals must have suffered.
498
00:58:22,292 --> 00:58:27,708
Seeing Super Citizen Ko by Wan Jen,
499
00:58:27,708 --> 00:58:37,534
I felt an acute pain.
500
00:58:37,833 --> 00:58:46,119
The film portrays the White Terror of the 50s,
501
00:58:46,417 --> 00:58:50,250
when intellectuals were persecuted.
502
00:58:50,250 --> 00:58:53,917
The intellectuals at that time received
a Japanese education
503
00:58:53,917 --> 00:58:58,583
and read political essays in Japanese.
504
00:58:58,583 --> 00:59:05,115
But such academic activities
505
00:59:06,083 --> 00:59:09,331
led to the accusation of treason.
506
00:59:11,083 --> 00:59:12,494
The last scene,
507
00:59:13,333 --> 00:59:17,250
I don't remember too well,
508
00:59:17,250 --> 00:59:23,250
the main character, to redeem himself,
509
00:59:23,250 --> 00:59:28,292
went to look for the grave
of his friend who was executed.
510
00:59:28,292 --> 00:59:32,203
He begs for forgiveness in Japanese.
511
00:59:32,375 --> 00:59:39,208
He uses Japanese to express his feelings.
512
00:59:39,208 --> 00:59:42,077
That was very hard for me.
513
00:59:45,708 --> 00:59:50,616
It's my most memorable scene
from Taiwan cinema.
514
01:00:18,625 --> 01:00:19,870
I am sorry.
515
01:01:19,583 --> 01:01:22,667
As filmmakers in Hong Kong, starting out in TV,
516
01:01:22,667 --> 01:01:23,865
we were all quite close.
517
01:01:24,375 --> 01:01:25,542
We would meet up in private
518
01:01:25,542 --> 01:01:29,453
but could rarely work with each other.
519
01:01:30,000 --> 01:01:32,583
But in Taiwan,
520
01:01:32,583 --> 01:01:35,155
filmmakers helped each other.
521
01:01:36,000 --> 01:01:38,583
Hou Hsiao-Hsien sold his house
522
01:01:38,583 --> 01:01:42,365
to finance Edward Yang's Taipei Story.
523
01:01:43,250 --> 01:01:45,625
He'd done that before
524
01:01:45,625 --> 01:01:49,750
with Growing Up. He does that all the time.
525
01:01:49,750 --> 01:01:52,156
That's a great atmosphere.
526
01:01:52,625 --> 01:01:55,333
When I shot Ah-Fu over there
527
01:01:55,333 --> 01:02:00,785
Yang also asked people to help me out.
528
01:02:01,292 --> 01:02:05,666
They had a strong bond of friendship.
529
01:02:06,375 --> 01:02:12,500
The 80s was an overwhelming decade in Taiwan.
530
01:02:12,500 --> 01:02:14,657
In Hong Kong we only realized that later.
531
01:02:18,375 --> 01:02:20,699
Edward Yang wanted to write about
532
01:02:21,083 --> 01:02:24,792
people visiting their old homes in China.
533
01:02:24,792 --> 01:02:27,364
But things happened so fast,
534
01:02:27,750 --> 01:02:30,038
there was no time to record them.
535
01:02:30,417 --> 01:02:34,992
No time to write scripts.
536
01:02:39,875 --> 01:02:41,369
Attention!
537
01:02:42,125 --> 01:02:44,910
Face the front.
538
01:02:50,250 --> 01:02:52,289
Eyes front!
539
01:02:55,208 --> 01:02:56,406
At ease.
540
01:02:56,750 --> 01:02:58,078
Attention!
541
01:02:59,125 --> 01:03:00,916
Right turn.
542
01:03:01,500 --> 01:03:02,910
Stupid!
543
01:03:04,333 --> 01:03:06,372
Left turn.
544
01:03:09,042 --> 01:03:10,286
Watch your brother.
545
01:03:10,542 --> 01:03:13,327
C'mon, pay attention, will you?
546
01:03:13,917 --> 01:03:16,250
Wrong again, you're twisting.
547
01:03:16,250 --> 01:03:17,827
Don't you know how to turn?
548
01:03:21,750 --> 01:03:23,457
Attention!
549
01:03:25,250 --> 01:03:26,365
At ease.
550
01:03:27,833 --> 01:03:29,292
Attention!
551
01:03:30,750 --> 01:03:31,913
At ease.
552
01:03:32,125 --> 01:03:34,875
Right turn.
553
01:03:39,417 --> 01:03:43,115
You have to make the right sound.
554
01:03:43,292 --> 01:03:44,536
Give it all you've got.
555
01:03:45,750 --> 01:03:48,286
Attention!
556
01:03:49,292 --> 01:03:54,625
Face the front!
557
01:04:26,500 --> 01:04:28,456
The best films, to me,
558
01:04:28,625 --> 01:04:31,417
capture the realities of their time,
559
01:04:31,417 --> 01:04:34,250
and respond to them.
560
01:04:34,708 --> 01:04:38,785
For me, New Taiwan Cinema
completely does this.
561
01:04:41,667 --> 01:04:47,617
Whatever the period of
those films, old or modern,
562
01:04:48,125 --> 01:04:54,625
they totally captured
the spirit of their times,
563
01:04:54,625 --> 01:04:57,197
vividly, with a clear point of view.
564
01:04:58,458 --> 01:04:59,583
Its humanism,
565
01:04:59,583 --> 01:05:07,122
its concerns for society, are all very obvious.
566
01:05:07,500 --> 01:05:10,452
Hong Kong cinema has also
produced films with similar sensibilities,
567
01:05:10,792 --> 01:05:12,949
but there were limits in Hong Kong films.
568
01:05:13,292 --> 01:05:14,625
That is,
569
01:05:14,625 --> 01:05:17,417
they had to remain commercial.
570
01:05:17,417 --> 01:05:20,375
Commercial above all,
with only a few exceptions.
571
01:05:20,375 --> 01:05:24,083
I wouldn't call it a pressure
572
01:05:24,083 --> 01:05:26,208
but certainly a natural condition
573
01:05:26,208 --> 01:05:27,458
for survival.
574
01:05:27,458 --> 01:05:28,703
But in Taiwan,
575
01:05:29,000 --> 01:05:30,458
later on,
576
01:05:30,458 --> 01:05:33,875
I know they also struggled
577
01:05:33,875 --> 01:05:35,333
with the pressures
578
01:05:35,333 --> 01:05:38,249
but they had great courage.
579
01:05:38,625 --> 01:05:41,083
I don't know where they got that from.
580
01:05:41,083 --> 01:05:43,292
I wasn't aware if they suffered,
581
01:05:43,292 --> 01:05:45,208
they didn't show it to me.
582
01:05:45,208 --> 01:05:48,542
But they had persistence and determination.
583
01:05:48,542 --> 01:05:52,157
That's what I admire.
584
01:05:52,500 --> 01:05:56,577
That's not obvious to Hong Kong people.
585
01:06:13,125 --> 01:06:14,916
Why am I in Hong Kong?
586
01:06:16,000 --> 01:06:17,577
Why am I in Hong Kong?
587
01:06:34,583 --> 01:06:38,993
Some students in China said
588
01:06:39,500 --> 01:06:44,739
they expect to see gunfire
on the streets of Hong Kong,
589
01:06:45,000 --> 01:06:50,458
or find the restaurants full of Mafia meetings.
590
01:06:50,458 --> 01:06:52,995
This is the common experience
for Chinese audiences
591
01:06:53,625 --> 01:06:57,371
watching Hong Kong films.
592
01:06:57,542 --> 01:07:02,167
In Hong Kong genre films
593
01:07:02,167 --> 01:07:04,792
everything seems magical, surreal.
594
01:07:04,792 --> 01:07:06,451
That creates misunderstandings.
595
01:07:06,750 --> 01:07:08,208
But Taiwan is a different case.
596
01:07:08,208 --> 01:07:10,414
Taiwan New Cinema...
597
01:07:11,125 --> 01:07:13,333
On my first visit to Taiwan
598
01:07:13,333 --> 01:07:19,082
I found that even in a local store or hotel
599
01:07:19,250 --> 01:07:23,292
people living, working,
600
01:07:23,292 --> 01:07:30,792
the way they talk, mixing Mandarin
and Taiwanese,
601
01:07:30,792 --> 01:07:34,542
it feels very familiar,
as if I've been there before.
602
01:07:34,542 --> 01:07:38,083
It's hard to find those feelings
603
01:07:38,083 --> 01:07:39,583
in China's Fifth Generation films,
604
01:07:39,583 --> 01:07:43,116
Ju Dou or Yellow Earth, say,
605
01:07:43,292 --> 01:07:44,542
those films seemed far away to us.
606
01:07:44,542 --> 01:07:46,208
Their approach is very different.
607
01:07:46,208 --> 01:07:52,417
It's not about judging which is better
608
01:07:52,417 --> 01:07:55,783
just a shortcoming in this respect.
609
01:08:27,292 --> 01:08:31,582
Of all the Taiwan New Cinema directors,
610
01:08:32,375 --> 01:08:35,583
I felt closest to Wang Tung.
611
01:08:35,583 --> 01:08:37,583
In films like Strawman,
612
01:08:37,583 --> 01:08:41,250
and Hill of No Return,
613
01:08:41,250 --> 01:08:43,041
with rural situations,
614
01:08:43,458 --> 01:08:46,750
the cruelty and absurdity of that,
615
01:08:46,750 --> 01:08:49,667
he dealt with it beautifully.
616
01:08:49,667 --> 01:08:53,033
It was close to my experience in Sichuan.
617
01:08:58,958 --> 01:09:01,125
With Dust In The Wind,
618
01:09:01,125 --> 01:09:03,708
and A Time To Live, A Time To Die,
619
01:09:03,708 --> 01:09:05,458
I didn't expect films
could be so down to earth.
620
01:09:05,458 --> 01:09:12,167
Wang has a unique sense of humor,
621
01:09:12,167 --> 01:09:16,625
and a sense of the soil
622
01:09:16,625 --> 01:09:19,992
that differs from Hou Hsiao-Hsien's.
623
01:09:24,917 --> 01:09:29,958
Another influential director is Edward Yang.
624
01:09:29,958 --> 01:09:34,625
Once I got to know more about city life,
625
01:09:34,625 --> 01:09:37,458
and learned more about myself,
626
01:09:38,833 --> 01:09:42,247
his films really touched me.
627
01:09:42,667 --> 01:09:45,582
Now, looking back,
628
01:09:45,917 --> 01:09:51,292
they are like prophecies for China today,
629
01:09:51,292 --> 01:09:52,785
the interpersonal relationships
in modern cities.
630
01:09:54,958 --> 01:09:57,116
I don't understand the strategy
of giant corporations.
631
01:09:57,458 --> 01:09:59,913
They even merge companies in dispute.
632
01:10:01,667 --> 01:10:03,824
That's what they are good at.
633
01:10:04,917 --> 01:10:08,532
These things make you
believe more and more in fate.
634
01:10:10,208 --> 01:10:13,124
It doesn't matter how careful you are,
635
01:10:13,958 --> 01:10:16,993
the slightest error can lead
to fatal consequences.
636
01:10:19,375 --> 01:10:20,667
You don't believe me?
637
01:10:20,667 --> 01:10:22,291
I don't want to be so pessimistic.
638
01:10:22,833 --> 01:10:25,453
I don't want to be so pessimistic.
639
01:10:44,250 --> 01:10:45,578
Look at these buildings,
640
01:10:46,292 --> 01:10:48,082
I'm more and more confused.
641
01:10:49,500 --> 01:10:52,748
I don't know which ones I designed,
which ones I didn't.
642
01:10:53,292 --> 01:10:54,750
They all look the same.
643
01:10:56,583 --> 01:11:00,909
It's like I don't exist.
644
01:12:00,708 --> 01:12:05,292
When I first contacted these filmmakers
645
01:12:05,292 --> 01:12:09,750
trying to understand the topics
they were dealing with,
646
01:12:09,750 --> 01:12:15,250
I realized two things.
647
01:12:15,250 --> 01:12:19,625
In Hou's films I sensed something Chinese
648
01:12:19,625 --> 01:12:23,958
before seeing a Taiwaneseness.
649
01:12:23,958 --> 01:12:34,374
At that time there were
no modern films in China.
650
01:12:35,542 --> 01:12:38,833
Not in 1984. But in 85-86, modern films like
651
01:12:38,833 --> 01:12:42,667
Yellow Earth and Red Sorghum appeared...
652
01:12:42,667 --> 01:12:45,667
Ok, but I can't agree with that.
653
01:12:45,667 --> 01:12:47,083
Even though I like these films
654
01:12:47,083 --> 01:12:49,333
their modernity is far behind
655
01:12:49,333 --> 01:12:52,042
that of Hou in terms of purity and boldness.
656
01:12:52,042 --> 01:12:54,917
I agree, my point is,
657
01:12:54,917 --> 01:13:00,875
in The Boys From Fengkuei
or That Day, On The Beach
658
01:13:00,875 --> 01:13:04,000
I see traces of Western films.
659
01:13:04,000 --> 01:13:07,583
For example, A Summer At Grandpa's
reminds me of Rossellini,
660
01:13:07,583 --> 01:13:12,792
That Day, On The Beach makes me
think of Antonioni.
661
01:13:12,792 --> 01:13:15,375
But when I watch Yellow Earth
I don't find those resonances.
662
01:13:15,375 --> 01:13:18,750
I think it's from a totally
eccentric film world.
663
01:13:18,750 --> 01:13:22,708
It's not about which is better or more modern,
664
01:13:22,708 --> 01:13:24,375
just a matter of signs.
665
01:13:24,375 --> 01:13:25,833
I must confess
666
01:13:25,833 --> 01:13:30,792
the reason I'm attracted to
the films of Hou and Yang
667
01:13:30,792 --> 01:13:34,250
is that they don't carry exotic signs,
668
01:13:34,250 --> 01:13:38,917
rather, the spirit of modern films.
669
01:13:38,917 --> 01:13:44,583
Had they appeared in Italy or France,
670
01:13:44,583 --> 01:13:46,292
I'd be impressed also.
671
01:13:46,292 --> 01:13:48,625
To me, the key thing is
672
01:13:48,625 --> 01:13:50,583
they brought Taiwan cinema
into the realm of modern cinema.
673
01:13:50,583 --> 01:13:52,705
But you still say it's Chinese.
674
01:16:16,083 --> 01:16:20,292
When I watched The Boys From Fengkuei,
675
01:16:20,625 --> 01:16:24,833
during the whole 90 minutes
676
01:16:24,833 --> 01:16:29,622
I was totally lost in the film.
677
01:16:30,792 --> 01:16:33,079
Give me the money. Quick!
678
01:16:39,417 --> 01:16:40,531
Give me the change.
679
01:16:41,042 --> 01:16:42,417
Go through there.
680
01:16:43,750 --> 01:16:46,038
Hurry, or the cops will be here.
681
01:17:09,667 --> 01:17:10,865
There's nothing here.
682
01:17:19,000 --> 01:17:22,165
Damn, we were cheated.
683
01:17:27,292 --> 01:17:29,864
It's in Cinemascope, in full color!
684
01:17:49,750 --> 01:17:51,292
After I finished the film,
685
01:17:51,292 --> 01:17:55,542
I strongly felt it was about me,
686
01:17:55,542 --> 01:17:57,458
about my friends,
687
01:17:57,458 --> 01:18:01,125
and the young people around me.
688
01:18:01,125 --> 01:18:03,000
I've no idea
689
01:18:03,000 --> 01:18:05,292
how this film from Taiwan
690
01:18:05,292 --> 01:18:09,156
could reflect myself so truthfully.
691
01:18:10,250 --> 01:18:13,948
Now looking back,
692
01:18:14,458 --> 01:18:18,749
the film shows Taiwan's changing economy,
693
01:18:19,083 --> 01:18:22,958
as well as the change in
its political atmosphere.
694
01:18:22,958 --> 01:18:25,417
In the 90s when I studied film
695
01:18:25,417 --> 01:18:28,333
China was undergoing similar economic change.
696
01:18:28,333 --> 01:18:31,368
A time for political change too,
697
01:18:31,583 --> 01:18:33,917
though 10 years later than Taiwan.
698
01:18:33,917 --> 01:18:39,997
But the change was very similar.
699
01:18:41,500 --> 01:18:43,667
Taiwan New Cinema, as a current
700
01:18:43,667 --> 01:18:46,542
or as a film movement,
701
01:18:46,542 --> 01:18:53,458
has brought me great inspiration.
702
01:18:53,458 --> 01:18:57,417
Those films connect to reality,
703
01:18:57,417 --> 01:19:03,458
personal experience, and memories very closely.
704
01:19:03,458 --> 01:19:08,500
This attitude towards
culture, or writing style,
705
01:19:08,500 --> 01:19:11,833
was interrupted in China during
the Cultural Revolution.
706
01:19:11,833 --> 01:19:13,958
To me, these films connect
707
01:19:13,958 --> 01:19:18,958
to a tradition of Chinese cinema,
708
01:19:18,958 --> 01:19:22,083
like those in the 20s and 30s,
709
01:19:22,083 --> 01:19:24,917
even to the literary tradition of that time.
710
01:20:14,833 --> 01:20:17,083
You go home first, I'm not going back.
711
01:20:17,083 --> 01:20:18,281
Where are you going?
712
01:20:20,792 --> 01:20:22,416
How can I go home alone?
713
01:20:26,875 --> 01:20:28,155
Don't be like this.
714
01:20:44,750 --> 01:20:46,872
Taiwan New Cinema is in fact pretty slow.
715
01:20:48,875 --> 01:20:52,158
It takes effort to watch.
716
01:20:53,000 --> 01:20:54,791
It's not easy to apprehend.
717
01:20:58,167 --> 01:20:59,660
At that time I just felt...
718
01:21:02,958 --> 01:21:05,417
I like watching Taiwan New Cinema
719
01:21:05,417 --> 01:21:06,994
because it reveals something attractive.
720
01:21:07,292 --> 01:21:11,038
because it reveals something attractive.
721
01:21:12,708 --> 01:21:21,125
I think it didn't involve the society directly.
722
01:21:21,125 --> 01:21:22,453
but rather indirectly.
723
01:21:23,708 --> 01:21:25,417
In an interesting way
724
01:21:25,417 --> 01:21:29,917
you can feel the connection,
something of that time,
725
01:21:29,917 --> 01:21:32,667
but what's said goes beyond
726
01:21:32,667 --> 01:21:35,749
its time and covers different views.
727
01:21:36,250 --> 01:21:38,372
I think it's quite special.
728
01:21:45,042 --> 01:21:46,370
What's your name?
729
01:22:51,125 --> 01:22:54,657
I came to clarify something.
730
01:23:08,958 --> 01:23:11,957
I'm Liu Xiaodong. I'm a painter.
731
01:23:13,042 --> 01:23:14,583
Not too familiar with movies,
732
01:23:14,583 --> 01:23:17,915
haven't watched films systematically.
733
01:23:19,250 --> 01:23:26,125
I remember the first film
I saw was Taipei Story,
734
01:23:26,708 --> 01:23:29,791
starring Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Chin.
735
01:23:31,042 --> 01:23:34,574
It's a very quiet film.
736
01:23:37,042 --> 01:23:39,366
I remember one of its lines.
737
01:23:40,833 --> 01:23:44,833
Tsai walks slowly into the foreground and says:
738
01:23:44,833 --> 01:23:47,500
"Did you go to Tokyo this time?"
739
01:23:47,500 --> 01:23:52,375
Hou appears in the background
and says: "just passing."
740
01:23:52,375 --> 01:23:55,708
He moves out of frame, then back in again:
741
01:23:55,708 --> 01:23:57,083
"without stopping."
742
01:23:58,042 --> 01:24:02,250
Experts may have different opinions,
743
01:24:02,250 --> 01:24:05,866
but when I think of this film,
744
01:24:06,208 --> 01:24:09,625
just this shot and this line alone,
745
01:24:09,625 --> 01:24:12,079
expresses a lot of psychology
746
01:24:19,542 --> 01:24:22,873
Chin, we're going over to Lai's.
747
01:24:23,375 --> 01:24:24,999
Got some video tapes for him.
748
01:24:26,375 --> 01:24:27,869
I might watch them play chess.
749
01:24:29,375 --> 01:24:31,082
You staying over or going home tonight?
750
01:24:32,708 --> 01:24:33,871
Staying.
751
01:24:34,875 --> 01:24:36,038
Then I'll see you.
752
01:24:38,458 --> 01:24:39,573
Lon!
753
01:24:41,167 --> 01:24:42,411
Lon!
754
01:24:47,000 --> 01:24:48,956
Did you go to Tokyo on your way back?
755
01:24:51,458 --> 01:24:53,995
Just in transit, didn't stay.
756
01:24:59,208 --> 01:25:01,458
Being attached to this world
757
01:25:01,458 --> 01:25:04,875
while keeping a distance from it.
758
01:25:04,875 --> 01:25:08,952
Because once involved,
you can no longer be objective.
759
01:25:10,042 --> 01:25:13,041
I find this kind of aesthetics
very inspirational.
760
01:25:13,542 --> 01:25:15,829
What I learned the most is
761
01:25:16,167 --> 01:25:19,580
to keep a distance from all fixed values.
762
01:25:20,000 --> 01:25:21,873
Once you take that perspective,
763
01:25:22,125 --> 01:25:30,410
whether you're a painter,
photographer or writer,
764
01:25:30,958 --> 01:25:33,365
with this attitude
765
01:25:33,750 --> 01:25:35,706
you can see the bigger picture.
766
01:25:50,708 --> 01:25:54,785
The first time I watched
Taiwan cinema was in New York.
767
01:25:55,125 --> 01:25:57,792
I think it was the New York Film Festival
768
01:25:58,250 --> 01:26:01,617
I watched A Time to Live, A Time to Die,
769
01:26:03,667 --> 01:26:06,167
then A City of Sadness.
770
01:26:06,167 --> 01:26:07,411
That's it.
771
01:26:12,375 --> 01:26:15,742
Didn't you ask me my first time?
772
01:26:16,125 --> 01:26:17,998
Should I say some more?
773
01:26:19,667 --> 01:26:23,667
When I watched the work of Hou Hsiao-Hsien
774
01:26:23,667 --> 01:26:25,417
I was totally blown away.
775
01:26:25,417 --> 01:26:30,542
I never expected to see
in Chinese-language films
776
01:26:30,542 --> 01:26:36,408
something of such quality.
777
01:26:36,625 --> 01:26:40,083
So calm and tranquil,
778
01:26:40,083 --> 01:26:45,417
with unique texture and rhythm.
779
01:27:23,458 --> 01:27:26,458
A Time To Live, A Time To Die is
an important film for me.
780
01:27:26,458 --> 01:27:30,500
I was 17, first year of film school.
781
01:27:30,708 --> 01:27:35,201
One evening that summer,
during military training,
782
01:27:35,833 --> 01:27:38,998
there was an outdoor film screening.
783
01:27:39,583 --> 01:27:47,042
Each one of us had a blanket,
tied up like a backpack.
784
01:27:47,042 --> 01:27:50,076
Carrying our backpacks,
we ran to a very large sports field.
785
01:27:50,333 --> 01:27:53,914
Then we sat on the blankets.
786
01:27:54,167 --> 01:27:58,375
They projected the film onto a gigantic screen.
787
01:27:58,958 --> 01:28:07,625
It was dark all around and
the screen was glowing brightly.
788
01:28:07,625 --> 01:28:09,458
Everybody was transfixed,
789
01:28:09,458 --> 01:28:13,784
listening to: 'Ahao-gu! Ahao-gu!'
790
01:28:14,042 --> 01:28:16,875
The wind was blowing strongly.
791
01:28:16,875 --> 01:28:20,333
In the woods around the field
792
01:28:20,333 --> 01:28:23,285
the leaves were rustling.
793
01:28:25,333 --> 01:28:31,414
In the dark, by myself,
I was deeply captivated by the screen,
794
01:28:32,000 --> 01:28:37,867
I realized from now on I will be making films.
795
01:28:38,083 --> 01:28:40,750
I was touched and excited.
796
01:29:33,167 --> 01:29:38,375
Either Hou Hsiao-Hsien or Edward Yang
797
01:29:38,375 --> 01:29:42,167
kept in themselves something unique:
798
01:29:42,167 --> 01:29:43,667
so-called humanism.
799
01:29:43,667 --> 01:29:50,208
That is what a true artist should have.
800
01:29:50,208 --> 01:29:54,203
A very personalized thinking
801
01:29:54,875 --> 01:30:03,292
that connects feeling with local reality
802
01:30:03,292 --> 01:30:06,208
through a deep relationship
803
01:30:06,208 --> 01:30:07,832
and a deep understanding.
804
01:30:08,375 --> 01:30:12,666
That's something that
has been destroyed in China.
805
01:30:13,083 --> 01:30:18,583
It's a very special quality.
806
01:30:19,625 --> 01:30:21,250
When it emerged from Taiwan
807
01:30:21,250 --> 01:30:27,414
it certainly earned the island some respect.
808
01:30:27,833 --> 01:30:31,414
Because if Taiwan can produce such directors,
809
01:30:34,750 --> 01:30:36,576
it says a lot about China.
810
01:32:44,875 --> 01:32:49,208
In A Brighter Summer Day,
811
01:32:49,208 --> 01:32:52,824
the narrative is very strong,
812
01:32:53,333 --> 01:33:00,583
but it also has a great sense of history,
813
01:33:00,583 --> 01:33:02,333
in particular how you remember history.
814
01:33:02,333 --> 01:33:06,125
It's realistic and personal.
815
01:33:06,125 --> 01:33:09,823
Yes, real and individual.
816
01:33:10,125 --> 01:33:11,583
Because there are many kinds of memories.
817
01:33:11,583 --> 01:33:14,167
Some are macroscopic,
818
01:33:14,167 --> 01:33:17,167
some are fleeting and individual.
819
01:33:17,167 --> 01:33:19,375
Of these two,
820
01:33:19,375 --> 01:33:22,409
I think New Taiwan Cinema
shows more individual memories.
821
01:33:23,500 --> 01:33:26,208
We have undergone a history of Communism,
822
01:33:26,208 --> 01:33:29,875
That's why the Fifth Generation didn't
act like the Taiwanese directors.
823
01:33:29,875 --> 01:33:33,952
They didn't communicate with each other.
824
01:33:34,208 --> 01:33:36,698
It's because of our historical situation.
825
01:33:36,958 --> 01:33:41,416
The work of Zhang Yimou
or Chen Kaige for example,
826
01:33:41,917 --> 01:33:43,708
they made good films,
827
01:33:43,708 --> 01:33:47,040
but those films were limited.
828
01:33:47,167 --> 01:33:55,665
But Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang
didn't have this problem.
829
01:33:57,958 --> 01:34:00,875
I don't see any artistic limitation
830
01:34:00,875 --> 01:34:04,917
in Farewell My Concubine.
831
01:34:04,917 --> 01:34:07,157
I see only stories.
832
01:34:08,208 --> 01:34:09,750
Go and watch those films again, do it.
833
01:34:09,750 --> 01:34:14,500
It's all built on dialogue.
834
01:34:14,500 --> 01:34:17,250
I think they have a very high quality
visual language.
835
01:34:17,250 --> 01:34:18,578
There's no people.
836
01:34:18,708 --> 01:34:20,083
Huh?
837
01:34:20,958 --> 01:34:23,833
But Hou's films are different.
838
01:34:23,833 --> 01:34:28,788
In his films, take any scene,
839
01:34:29,125 --> 01:34:30,667
they're human beings.
840
01:34:31,875 --> 01:34:33,833
- Really?
- They are real people
841
01:34:33,833 --> 01:34:37,375
in his films.
842
01:34:37,375 --> 01:34:38,958
Only ordinary people are people?
843
01:34:38,958 --> 01:34:43,866
No, no matter the character, they are alive.
844
01:34:45,542 --> 01:34:49,875
So you think Cheng and Duan are not people
845
01:34:49,875 --> 01:34:51,452
but historical signs?
846
01:34:51,792 --> 01:34:53,582
It's collective cinema.
847
01:34:55,458 --> 01:34:58,917
We need to change this, but how?
848
01:34:58,917 --> 01:35:02,667
Not by changing visual style
849
01:35:02,667 --> 01:35:05,042
or formal explorations.
850
01:35:05,042 --> 01:35:08,124
Most important is people, people and cinema.
851
01:35:08,500 --> 01:35:10,667
I like New Taiwan Cinema because it has
852
01:35:10,667 --> 01:35:15,408
this relationship between people and cinema.
853
01:35:15,958 --> 01:35:20,083
It feels real...
854
01:35:20,083 --> 01:35:21,583
Define a precise context in which
855
01:35:21,583 --> 01:35:23,789
these films are important,
856
01:35:24,125 --> 01:35:25,500
instead of in general terms!
857
01:35:25,500 --> 01:35:30,583
Chinese literature, in the history
of Chinese literature...
858
01:35:30,583 --> 01:35:34,000
Without the Records of the Grand Historians,
859
01:35:34,000 --> 01:35:36,536
what is left?
860
01:35:37,500 --> 01:35:38,667
Many
861
01:35:38,667 --> 01:35:40,244
- Like what?
- Like The Lament,
862
01:35:41,458 --> 01:35:43,417
- But it's two different issues.
- And Nine Songs.
863
01:35:43,417 --> 01:35:45,408
It's more than two issues!
864
01:35:45,875 --> 01:35:49,292
You can't take something out
of context and blow it up.
865
01:35:49,292 --> 01:35:51,208
Look, literature's not our field,
866
01:35:51,208 --> 01:35:53,417
I'm just saying
867
01:35:53,417 --> 01:35:57,163
why this book's important to me.
868
01:35:57,625 --> 01:36:01,583
Because after all these centuries,
869
01:36:01,583 --> 01:36:04,997
it's still alive.
870
01:36:06,083 --> 01:36:11,167
It's still so vivid and truthful...
871
01:36:11,167 --> 01:36:13,750
OK, we don't question this.
872
01:36:13,750 --> 01:36:15,792
What I mean is,
873
01:36:15,792 --> 01:36:20,417
this book is unique in Chinese history.
874
01:36:20,417 --> 01:36:23,833
Taiwan New Cinema is also special. Why?
875
01:36:23,833 --> 01:36:27,625
It's not a collective product.
876
01:36:27,625 --> 01:36:32,000
It has individual perspectives,
877
01:36:32,000 --> 01:36:34,785
looking at a specific time
and revealing some truth.
878
01:36:35,167 --> 01:36:36,875
That's what's important.
879
01:36:36,875 --> 01:36:40,500
Also what's lacking in Fifth Generation films.
880
01:36:40,500 --> 01:36:42,871
I'm not denying the value of Chinese cinema
881
01:36:43,125 --> 01:36:46,583
but I think its biggest problem is...
882
01:36:46,583 --> 01:36:49,917
Exactly, in ancient times
883
01:36:49,917 --> 01:36:51,333
we had 'history-oriented' accounts,
884
01:36:51,333 --> 01:36:54,375
taking an historical point of view
for the sake of it.
885
01:36:54,375 --> 01:36:55,583
But from Five Dynasties,
886
01:36:55,583 --> 01:36:58,042
there was an awakening
of individual perception,
887
01:36:58,042 --> 01:36:59,322
that was progress.
888
01:36:59,542 --> 01:37:03,417
You can't bulldoze it all,
889
01:37:03,417 --> 01:37:05,583
ignoring this little yet important change.
890
01:37:05,583 --> 01:37:07,292
It brought out the value of people,
891
01:37:07,292 --> 01:37:11,042
though I reckon it's not as concrete
892
01:37:11,042 --> 01:37:15,167
as in Taiwan New Cinema...
893
01:37:15,167 --> 01:37:16,542
But it's so different!
894
01:37:58,542 --> 01:38:01,375
In fact, I'm mostly interested in
895
01:38:01,375 --> 01:38:05,833
the dynamics within the movement,
896
01:38:05,833 --> 01:38:12,833
how close the filmmakers were to each other.
897
01:38:12,833 --> 01:38:17,458
We saw Hou act in Yang's films.
898
01:38:17,458 --> 01:38:22,917
Hou also produced Yang.
899
01:38:22,917 --> 01:38:28,666
It was a lifestyle.
900
01:38:29,125 --> 01:38:31,833
For me Taiwan cinema in the 80s
901
01:38:31,833 --> 01:38:35,125
was also a kind of life experience
through filmmaking.
902
01:38:35,125 --> 01:38:40,364
Maybe the fading of the movement
903
01:38:40,792 --> 01:38:48,250
is related to Taiwan's democratization.
904
01:38:48,250 --> 01:38:53,832
A City of Sadness, I think...
905
01:38:54,958 --> 01:38:58,704
fulfilled the need of a time.
906
01:38:59,917 --> 01:39:03,083
There was a strong demand
907
01:39:03,083 --> 01:39:04,992
from the society for such a film.
908
01:39:07,125 --> 01:39:08,667
There's no need for nostalgia.
909
01:39:08,667 --> 01:39:13,041
It's just that a certain way
of filmmaking is gone.
910
01:39:13,375 --> 01:39:17,542
As for Hou and Yang,
911
01:39:17,542 --> 01:39:18,667
I don't know if they met up
912
01:39:18,667 --> 01:39:21,073
during Yang's last days.
913
01:39:21,208 --> 01:39:23,542
Did they have tea together?
914
01:39:23,542 --> 01:39:25,583
Did they share ideas about films?
915
01:39:25,583 --> 01:39:28,950
What we should remember is
maybe a certain way of living.
916
01:40:44,875 --> 01:40:46,499
She broke up with Hao-Hao,
917
01:40:49,500 --> 01:40:51,575
but he always tracked her down.
918
01:40:53,083 --> 01:40:54,364
Called her...
919
01:40:55,792 --> 01:40:57,036
Begged her to come back...
920
01:40:59,500 --> 01:41:01,042
Again and again.
921
01:41:02,125 --> 01:41:03,405
As if under a spell
922
01:41:03,875 --> 01:41:05,120
or hypnotized...
923
01:41:07,333 --> 01:41:08,448
She couldn't escape.
924
01:41:09,542 --> 01:41:10,656
She always came back.
925
01:41:13,333 --> 01:41:14,614
She told herself...
926
01:41:16,875 --> 01:41:18,534
that she had 500,000 in the bank.
927
01:41:20,500 --> 01:41:22,124
When she'd used it up,
928
01:41:22,792 --> 01:41:24,072
she would leave him for good.
929
01:42:44,708 --> 01:42:46,333
I don't think...
930
01:42:46,333 --> 01:42:49,667
I don't consider myself connected
to Taiwan New Cinema.
931
01:42:49,667 --> 01:42:51,292
I am different.
932
01:42:51,292 --> 01:42:53,698
I don't carry that burden.
933
01:42:54,042 --> 01:42:57,458
I just think filmmaking is an individual thing.
934
01:42:57,458 --> 01:42:59,000
Doing your own thing.
935
01:42:59,000 --> 01:43:03,292
So, you know... but people still drag me in
936
01:43:03,292 --> 01:43:05,200
because of the box office.
937
01:43:06,625 --> 01:43:11,367
If you consider film as an art form,
938
01:43:12,917 --> 01:43:15,208
a film is like a classic.
939
01:43:15,208 --> 01:43:18,125
Its value is not determined by the audience.
940
01:43:18,125 --> 01:43:20,125
It's determined by time.
941
01:43:20,125 --> 01:43:21,833
Not of the moment,
942
01:43:21,833 --> 01:43:23,625
but over the long term.
943
01:43:23,625 --> 01:43:24,823
It's there.
944
01:43:26,375 --> 01:43:27,620
Waiting for you to mature.
945
01:44:39,917 --> 01:44:42,204
Taiwan New Cinema couldn't be
a widespread phenomenon.
946
01:44:42,583 --> 01:44:45,286
Like all art films.
947
01:44:46,000 --> 01:44:48,572
A long time ago, elsewhere, maybe.
948
01:44:50,000 --> 01:44:54,708
Those who came after us were affected
949
01:44:54,708 --> 01:44:56,000
by the aftermath of Taiwan New Cinema,
950
01:44:56,000 --> 01:44:57,577
and they suffered.
951
01:44:58,792 --> 01:45:02,625
But also because of the circumstances.
952
01:45:02,625 --> 01:45:03,833
It was the downfall of the industry.
953
01:45:03,833 --> 01:45:05,576
Nothing you could do.
954
01:45:06,875 --> 01:45:08,083
Whether the industry prospers or not,
955
01:45:08,083 --> 01:45:12,708
has nothing to do with your artistic choices.
956
01:45:12,708 --> 01:45:15,542
It's not connected.
957
01:45:19,292 --> 01:45:24,413
All artistic expression is rooted in its time.
958
01:45:24,792 --> 01:45:26,417
It's the context that shapes it.
959
01:45:26,417 --> 01:45:27,792
It's impossible otherwise.
960
01:45:28,500 --> 01:45:29,833
Is there a new cinema now?
961
01:45:29,833 --> 01:45:31,410
I don't see it.
962
01:45:31,958 --> 01:45:33,208
Of course youngsters always try new stuff.
963
01:45:33,208 --> 01:45:36,542
It's the era of the Internet!
964
01:45:36,542 --> 01:45:39,083
They're exposed to all kinds
of visual languages.
965
01:45:39,083 --> 01:45:40,958
But we haven't seen a new cinema yet.
966
01:45:40,958 --> 01:45:42,833
What is new cinema?
967
01:45:42,833 --> 01:45:47,167
All forms have been tried before
968
01:45:47,167 --> 01:45:51,790
to the point that there are no new tricks.
969
01:45:52,333 --> 01:45:53,827
The most important is still content,
970
01:45:54,917 --> 01:45:56,494
content of its times.
69146
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