Continue reading →Used to be one of Hou’s rarest films, but while it suggests a weaker grasp of his material, it is still worth a shot.
Category / Hou, Hsiao-Hsien
Boys from Fengkuei, The (1983)
Continue reading →Hou Hsao-Hsien’s coming-of-age drama shows the hard-hitting reality of surviving in 1980s Taiwan, yet resonates as an evocation of a time passed.
Summer at Grandpa’s, A (1984)
Continue reading →The first of Hou’s ‘coming-of-age’ trilogy is a delightful capture of the nostalgic days of childhood.
Time to Live, a Time to Die, A (1985)
Continue reading →Hou’s autobiographical film is a potent tearjerker and a vivid portrayal of life lived in the ‘50s and ‘60s in rural Taiwan.
Dust in the Wind (1986)
Continue reading →The third film in Hou’s ‘coming-of-age trilogy’ eschews sentiment for a bleak if poetic visual meditation on fate, space and time.
City of Sadness, A (1989)
Continue reading →This historical epic about post-WWII Taiwan is one of Hou’s most ambitious and encompassing works, and also his first true masterpiece.
Puppetmaster, The (1993)
Continue reading →This is Hou’s masterpiece – a mammoth work about tradition and family, astonishingly crafted, and wrapped in the kind of historical fervour that gives it its power.
Good Men, Good Women (1995)
Continue reading →An astounding achievement and possibly my favourite work by Hou – this severely underrated film is layered, complex and possesses extraordinary cinematic power.
Goodbye, South, Goodbye (1996)
Continue reading →A lesser-known Hou film, but not any less brilliant – this is a gritty, uncompromising look at small-time crime in the backwaters of Taipei.
Flowers of Shanghai (1998)
Continue reading →Like “The Assassin”, this is one of Hou’s most formally exquisite works – a gorgeous and sensuous take on the period costume drama.
