Tong nien wang shi (1985)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Hsiao-hsien Hou

Writers:

T'ien-wen Chu (writer)
Hsiao-hsien Hou (writer)

Release Date:

1988 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

This depiction of childhood and adolescence draws heavily from the filmmaker's own boyhood. Like many of their compatriots...

Plot Keywords:

Coming Of Age | Historical | Teen

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

Mei-Feng
Yu-Yuen Tang	...	Grandmother
Feng Tien
Shufen Xin
Ann-Shuin Yiu

Also Known As:

A Time to Live and a Time to Die (USA) (festival title)
A Time to Live, a Time to Die (International: English title) (DVD title)
The Time to Live and the Time to Die
Tong nian wang shih (Taiwan)

Runtime:

Argentina:138 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente) | France:137 min | USA:138 min

Country:

Taiwan

Language:

Mandarin | Taiwanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | France:U | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Taiwan

Company:

Central Motion Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

This film is inspired by screenwriter-turned-director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's coming-of-age story. It is the second installment of Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "Coming-of-Age Trilogy" that features three prominent Taiwanese screenwriters' coming-of-age stories - the other two are _My Summer at Grandpa's (1984)_ (inspired by the childhood memories of Chu Tien-Wen) and _Dust in the Wind (1986)_ (inspired by the coming-of-age story of Wu Nien-Jen).

A great introduction to the world's greatest director

I recommend A TIME TO LIVE AND A TIME TO DIE as a great introduction to the films of Hou Hsiao Hsien, who I consider the greatest director working today. Like most of his films, this one is about the telling of history, the effort to recreate the memories of the past, in this case his childhood memories growing up in rural Taiwan. His family has escaped Communist China but live as if they will make their return someday. That someday never comes, the family grows old, and members die one by one. These tragedies (filmed with heartbreaking solemnity) serve as punctuation marks for the film's narrative, which isn't so much concerned with plot details as it is with capturing the sense of what it was like to live at that time, as the kids develop their own sense of belonging, in a country they have adpoted just as it has adopted them. His method of editing and storytelling is something close to revolutionary, and he would refine it in his later films. His ability to set scene after impeccable scene and let the ideas ferment over their totality is unparalleled. This is perhaps his most accessible film, full of heart and pathos. It may seem slowgoing by Hollywood standards, but if you have the willingness to let it wash over you, you will be transported, both mentally and emotionally.