Hou Hsiao-hsien

[Jun-Dai]

I was at the 3:00 screening. It was maybe two-thirds full? Not sure about the 7pm show.

If I was going to miss a day of Neorealist films at Lincoln Center, this'd be the screening to do it for.

[hearthesilence]

I attended the 7pm screening at BAM. Decent crowd, maybe a third to a half full?

[George Kaplan]

And that, in having to compete with the World Series, Halloween, The New York Marathon and the biggest citywide transit mess in some time, is no small achievement.

[Jun-Dai]

Maybe we should have Criterion forum shirts to wear to these showings

[jguitar]

I saw City of Sadness at the Pacific Cinematheque in Vancouver last night. It was a very moving experience. It seemed very similar to a lot of Hou's mid-80s work, particularly Dust in the Wind and The Time to Live and the Time to Die, but the historical context added quite a bit to the closely observed daily life quality that I like so much in Hou. It made me realize how little I know of Taiwanese history--a lot of things seemed to be somewhat shorthand references to historical events that I would imagine have a great deal of resonance for a Taiwanese audience.

Two elements that really struck me were the languages in the film and the music. I know a bit of Japanese, and it was interesting to hear how often Japanese words were sprinkled throughout conversations otherwise in a Chinese dialect (and I understand from the friend that I went with that the use of Chinese dialects is quite rich in the film). The music dimension was what really got me, however. A lot of this had to do with the use of Japanese songs in the film--this really underlined the complicated relations with Japanese culture that the characters had. There's one scene just after Hinomi has received gifts from Shizuko before the latter has to leave the island; you hear the Japanese children's song "Aka tonbo" being sung, and then a cut to a scene that I admit I didn't get on this first viewing--it wasn't entirely clear how this fit in with the narrative (I assume it was a flashback). I find Japanese children's songs to be pretty moving anyway--for instance, the use of songs in 24 Eyes is my favorite thing about that movie--and "Aka tonbo" is one of the most famous Japanese children's songs that I'm sure would be recognizable to many. There's also a scene in a prison where you hear prisoners singing a Japanese song, though one I didn't recognize.

While I was watching the film, I actually thought about FerdinandGriffon's post in the Non-Cinema Arts section about wanting to learn more about Chinese language pop from this time. I know quite a bit about Japanese popular music from the 30s through the 70s (and beyond), but this film and In the Mood For Love really make me want to learn more about Chinese pop. There are also traditional songs, Chinese opera--just a really compelling mix of music in the film that really complemented the richness of the overall story and the visual elements. The print looked great too.

[zedz]

Thanks for your appreciation of City of Sadness, particularly the comments on Hou's use of Japanese language and music. All of Hou's 80s and 90s films are extremely rich and specific in their historical detail and seem to be able to yield more and more meaning the more you bring to them, but this one pulls out all the stops. Which is one of the things that would make it the ideal film for a dense, scholarly DVD edition unpacking all of those references. Not Criterion, it seems, but there's always MoC. . .

(EDIT: I just remembered The Green Green Grass of Home and figured I should qualify that "all" in the second sentence.)

[Michael Kerpan]

I rather like Green Green Grass of Home -- which I think serves as a rather nice transition from his first "musicals" to his more serious films.

I can't see why Criterion would be more reluctant to tackle City of Sadness than Yi Yi (as fine as the latter is, I prefer the former -- by a considerable margin).

[swo17]

I don't think they're reluctant. They said on Facebook a while ago that they just don't have the rights.

[Michael Kerpan]

I don't think they're reluctant. They said on Facebook a while ago that they just don't have the rights.

There has never been any hint that Criterion _tried_ to get the rights to HHH's films in the past. Rights don't just fall out the clouds -- an into one's pockets. ;~}

[zedz]

I can't see why Criterion would be more reluctant to tackle City of Sadness than Yi Yi (as fine as the latter is, I prefer the former -- by a considerable margin).

Me neither. If they're ever going to tackle Hou, this seems like the completely logical starting point: one of his greatest and most significant films; the first (only?) commercially successful film of the New Taiwanese Cinema in Taiwan; never available on DVD; new restoration; ripe for contextualising extras. But I believe they've specifically said 'no' on this film. (EDIT: Thanks swo)

[swo17]

For what it's worth, I believe they also said on Facebook a few weeks ago that they'd like to tackle some Hou at some point.

[Gregory]

The new print of A City of Sadness that's been touring around the U.S. will get a screening in Berkeley at PFA on Feb. 20. (I'll be there and am feeling frequent jolts of excitement as the date approaches.)

[jsteffe]

Has anyone picked up the Hou Hsiao-Hsien box set released this April?

Hou Hsiao Hsien Film 1995-2001 (DVD) (Taiwan Version)

The item description seems to indicate that the DVDs are 16x9, but I wonder whether this is accurate. I also wonder whether they are new transfers or the same old 4x3 letterboxed transfers that have been floating around.

[sidehacker]

Wasn't there a blu-ray pack of some of his 80s films, would this possibly be a continuation? As much as I love Dust in the Wind, seeing Millennium Mambo in HD seems like it could be a true revelation. (even more so)

[RobertB]

There is a new Korean edition of A Time to Live and A Time to Die with english subs as well. Just released.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

There is a new Korean edition of A Time to Live and A Time to Die with english subs as well. Just released.

I'm betting this is a port of the old Sinomovie edition. The screen format is listed as 4:3 letterbox and the subtitle options are the same, but with the addition of Korean. Meanwhile the same distributor's Dust in the Wind looks to be a port of the CMPC remaster (they've also released The Terrorizers).

There's a 16:9 version of Time to Live in Japan -- along with the other movies from the Sinomovie '80s box -- but they have no English subs, and the PQ is such that I think they might actually be upscales of the same non-anamorphic source.

[RobertB]

Ah ok. Thank's for the warning. I was very tempted to buy it. Now I will wait and see if any review turns up.

[cache-cache]

Sorry for asking what seems to be answered, but I did find a Sino Hou Hsiao-hsien boxset from a private seller but still wondering whether the boxset is worth it. Could anyone who knows about the set recommend me/discourage me from buying the set? Also, Michael Kerpan did say that there is a low chance that the set will see a better transfer sooner or later. Could anyone tell me what the workings behind the films are now? Thank you!

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

You mean the '80s box? Dust in the Wind already has a superior English-subbed edition. For the others, there's no other English-friendly options, except that Korean release of A Time to Live, a Time to Die RobertB mentioned earlier (which I still suspect is a port of the Sinomovie). If you know French, I've learned of an R2F of A Time to Live, which is actually pretty good, to go by the screenshots -- but this is the only one I haven't seen firsthand. I have no idea what the prospects are for better English-subbed releases, but A Time to Live and A Summer at Grandpa's were Central Motion Picture Corporation productions, so those could be added to their remastered line at some point. I'd go for the Sinomovie box if you can get it for a reasonable price.

In other news, I can confirm that the new Taiwanese boxset mentioned a month ago does in fact boast new transfers, or at least better transfers than the existing English-subbed editions of the first three films (Good Men, Good Women/Goodbye South, Goodbye/Flowers of Shanghai). All are anamorphic and the subtitles are optional. (That they have Japanese subtitles makes me wonder if they reused the R2J transfers.) Millennium Mambo has excellent English-subbed PAL releases in France and Australia, so I'm not sure how that compares. I have the set on the way so I should be able to provide caps in a week or two, if anybody is still nervous about taking the plunge.

[John Edmond]

Still nervous here.

[Michael Kerpan]

If only the new set included Puppetmaster instead of Millennium Mambo (which already exists in a good edition).

[John Edmond]

I'm pretty sure I printed that on a t-shirt for a friend.

If the transfers aren't that good, why bother replacing my old DVDs? If they are that good, just release them on blu-ray already/they will be released on blu-ray the moment I buy this set. In other words I need pristine frame captures from Flowers of Shanghai to make me submit to the inevitable.

[John Edmond]

Any word on the new Taiwanese boxset?

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Screen captures thisaway

My guess that these reused the Japanese transfers was correct for the first two films. Good Men, Good Women and Goodbye South, Goodbye are indistinguishable from the R2Js, right down to individual bits of print damage and some totally unnecessary windowboxing on GMGW. Flowers of Shanghai looks different and is also the worst of the lot -- it's not as overly bright as the R2J (although I think the slightly darker R2F looks better still), but it adds combing and major compression issues in dark areas. The others are soft and murky in places, but on balance they destroy the previous English-subbed editions. Flowers is better too, but it's still weak enough to knock the entire set down a letter grade or so in my book. I don't really care much about Millennium Mambo in view of the R2F and Australian releases, which is a good thing, since this version is PAL-to-NTSC. Best I can say is that it looks better than the existing NTSC releases. (Cap #4 looks particularly bad since it's from the middle of a tilt.)

All discs only have 2.0 tracks, which I don't think is an issue for the first three films (I doubt they had 5.1 mixes theatrically) but is probably wrong for Millennium Mambo. Subtitles are basically identical to the existing English-friendly versions, but there are occasional formatting issues (words are sometimes run together) and I hate that font. I see now that the Fox Lorber subs for Goodbye South, Goodbye "fixed" some grammatical errors; these probably weren't really errors but attempts at rendering colloquial speech.

There are no extras, but you get a nice-looking bilingual booklet. Unfortunately the only texts are plot synopses and some pithy "director's statements" -- no production details or anything like that. The whole thing is in a big foldout case, sorta like a tall digipack. One caveat: the discs are held in individual plastic trays, attached to the case with tiny dollops of glue -- and all but one of the trays came loose during shipping. The design keeps the trays don't slide around when the package is closed, and the discs all remained on their spindles. But if I don't hold the case firmly shut when I remove it from the shelf, the trays will slide out through the bottom. I could just re-glue them, of course.

[John Edmond]

Thanks, that's a hard upgrade call - buying four films I already own to only upgrade two and a bit. Still appreciated, and thanks for the screen captures.