A City of Sadness

1989
Hong Kong/Taiwan
158 min
15

Directed by: Hou Hsiao-hsien
Written by: Chu Tien-wen, Wu Nien-jen
Cast: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Sung Young Chen, Jack Kao, Li Tian-lu
Language: Taiwanese, Mandarin, Japanese, Cantonese, Shanghainese

Chinese born director Hou's touching portrayal of Taiwan's post war history won the 1989 Golden Lion in Venice and broadly depicts the lives of four brothers battling to retain their integrity as organised crime moves from the Chinese mainland to influence the local community. Hou's vision is a genuinely poetic deliberation of a people and their land.