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A Summer at Grandpa's  /  Daughter of the Nile

April 11, 2015 - 3:00 pm
Billy Wilder Theater

A Summer at Grandpa's  (Taiwan, 1984)

Dong dong de jia qi

Sent to their grandfather's home in the countryside as their ailing mother languishes in a Taipei hospital, two kids experience a sunny summer laced with hints of disillusionment.  Witnessing troubling scenes between the adults in this bucolic setting, they seem to glimpse a chilling hint of their own futures.  Director Hou Hsiao-hsien exquisitely handles the children's vantage point, and delicately toggles between the film's light and dark notes.

Producer: Chang Hwa-kun, Yu Chen-yen.  Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien.  Screenwriter: Hou Hsiao-hsien.  Cinematography: Chen Kun-hou.  Editor: Liao Ching-sung.  Cast: Wang Chi-kuang, Li Shu-chen, Ku Chun, Mei Fang, Yen Cheng-kuo.  35mm, color, in Hokkien, Taiwanese and Mandarin with English subtitles, 98 min.

Daughter of the Nile  (Taiwan, 1987)

Ni lo ho nyu er

Following a series of coming-of-age dramas, with this little-seen feature director Hou Hsiao-hsien widened his canvas to accommodate a contemporary social context.  A young woman struggles to maintain balance and cohesion between her father and brother (a cop and a petty criminal) while maintaining a fast-food job and attending night school.  Her escape comes with manga comics, whose outlandish fantasy scenes are outstripped by Taiwan's own economic and social churn.

Producer: Lu Wen-jen, Tsai Sung-lin, Wang Ying-chieh.  Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien.  Screenwriter: Chu Tien-wen.  Cinematography: Chen Huai-en.  Editor: Liao Ching-sung.  Cast: Yang Lin, Jack Kao, Yang Fan, Li Tien-lu, Tsui Fu-sheng.  35mm, color, in Mandarin with English subtitles, 93 min.

Part of: 
Also Like Life: The Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien