A City of Sadness
| Director | Hou Hsiao-Hsien |
|---|---|
| Year | 1989 |
| Country | Taiwan |
| Runtime | 2h 39m |
| Language |
Cantonese,
Japanese,
Mandarin,
Min Nan,
Shanghainese
In Mandarin, Min Nan, Japanese, Cantonese, and Shanghainese with English Subtitles
|
| Format | 35mm |
| TMDB | View entry |
Synopsis
Hou Hsiao-hsien closed out the ’80s with one of his most acclaimed works, toplined by future superstar Tony Leung Chiu-wai (CHUNGKING EXPRESS). Still undistributed in the U.S., A CITY OF SADNESS was a sensation in Taiwan for its frank depiction of the post-World War II era, when Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government ended fifty years of Japanese rule and placed the island under a brutal martial-law regime. But for all its ambition, the film remains touchingly intimate, using the story of a single family to explore history through means both formally and narratively audacious. The first Taiwanese movie to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, A CITY OF SADNESS is an unparalleled landmark of Taiwanese and global cinema.
Listed at AFS
Archived on the AFS site between Mon, Aug 11 2025 and Sun, Apr 12 2026, across 3 captures. These dates are inferred from Wayback Machine captures and may not be accurate.