A City of Sadness
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Polish premiereTheatrical Screenings
Muranów
Kinoteka 1
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Film description
Following its defeat in the war, Japan is forced to cede Taiwan to the Republic of China. The early years under Chinese Nationalist Party rule bring immense brutality to the island, quickly plunging it into economic crisis and widespread social chaos. At the centre of these historical upheavals is the Lin family, living in the port city of Keelung. The eldest brother tries to keep the family business afloat, the second disappears in the war, the third returns traumatised and becomes entangled in shady dealings, while the youngest – a mute photographer named Wen-ching – aligns himself with leftist intellectuals. When bloodily suppressed protests erupt on 28 February 1947, the brothers become bound to the tragic events leading up to the long period of White Terror that followed. Released just two years after the lifting of martial law, Hou Hsiao-hsien’s film takes the form of a monumental masterpiece that crowns the Taiwanese New Cinema movement. Awarded Taiwan's first-ever Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, A City of Sadness was also the first film on such a scale to break the silence surrounding the February 28 Incident and the dark era of the White Terror. The role of the youngest brother, Wen-ching, is played by the renowned Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai.
The film was screened at the 5th edition of Five Flavours.
text:
Lucyna Szczykutowicz
Hou Hsiao-hsien
Born in China in 1947, Hou Hsiao-hsien was raised in Taiwan, where he graduated from the National Taiwan Academy of Arts. He has been repeatedly celebrated for his direction at major international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, and Taipei. A seminal figure of the Taiwanese New Wave, his body of work has exerted a profound influence on both national and global cinema. A retrospective of his films featured in the programme of the 5th Five Flavours Asian Film Festival. In 2023, he retired from filmmaking due to health reasons.
1980 Jiu shi liu liu de ta / Cute Girls
1983 The Sandwich Man / Erzi de Dawan’ou
1983 Chłopcy z Fengkuei / Feng gui lai de ren / The Boys From Fengkuei
1985 Czas życia, czas śmierci / Tong nian wang shi / The Time to Live and the Time to Die
1989 Miasto smutku / Bei qing cheng shi / A City of Sadness
2001 Millennium Mambo / Qian xi man po / Millennium Mambo
2007 Podróż czerwonego balonika / Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge / The Flight of the Red Balloon
2015 Zabójczyni / Nie yinniang / The Assassin
