Apart from the specifics of their tragic endings, Hsiao-hsien Hou’s The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985) bears striking similarity to A Brighter Summers Day (1991; #79). Both films concern expatriate mainland Chinese families who have sought a better life in Taiwan. In both pictures the young men of the family join street gangs to develop their émigré identity and protect themselves from xenophobic violence. The families in both movies place emphasis on education, and in both stories children are compelled to lie about their academic merits.
Each film attempts to make a statement about the confusing nature of adolescence experienced as a political refuge, and could likely serve as a surface level reference on the subject. In fact, I’d go as far to say that a respectable academic paper could be composed, comparing and contrasting the films’ approaches to this particular subject matter. I just don’t want to be the one to write it.
That’s because while The Time to Live and the Time to Die is the technically superior of the two pictures, it somehow manages to be nominally less compelling than the four hour Summer’s Day. At 2+ hours, The Time to Live and the Time to Die isn’t a cakewalk itself, and though it does highly draw on the style of Japanese master Yasujirô Ozu, it doesn’t have the soul that his pictures absolutely emanate. Summer’s Day has this missing element to an extent, but meanders too much to exploit it. Thus both pictures are relatively low on the watchability factor and don’t invite the repeat viewing required for academic thesis. In short, they’re about the same movie in both story and overall quality.
Language: Mandarin
Runtime: 138 Minutes
Available @Youtube.com
Grade: 1.5 Hats Off
0 comments:
Post a Comment