A narratological and tonal detour from his earlier output, Yang’s biting satire exposes the anxieties and hypocrisies of several young adults living in a modernising Taipei that has conditioned its people to celebrate the transactional and exploitative aspects of work, relationships and life. 

Yang’s sweeping masterpiece and deeply affecting picture is one of the greatest films ever made, dissecting 1960s Taiwanese society through the eyes of its youths and street gangs in search of collective identity and individual meaning.

Yang’s outstanding second feature is a slow and methodical look at romance and conflict set against the modernisation of Taiwan.