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A City of Sadness Paperback – 1 June 2002
by Berenice Reynaud (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 2 ratings
Winner of the Golden Lion in Venice in 1989, A City of Sadness introduced Western audiences to the richness of New Taiwanese Cinema. Its director, Hou Hsiao-hsien is now recognised as one of the most profoundly original auteurs in contemporary cinema. A City of Sadness revisits a painful episode in recent Taiwanese history, creating an elliptical and impressionistic picture of Chiang Kai-shek's takeover of the island after the defeat of his Kuomintang army by Mao Zedong. Taiwan's politics and the suffering of her inhabitants are invoked by Hou in the story of an extended family of four brothers. The first Taiwanese film shot in direct sound, A City of Sadness echoes the forgotten voices of ordinary people facing political repression. Berenice Reynaud deciphers the complex social and historical threads that combine in the film while analysing its aesthetics in the context of Hou's entire career. His journey from being a commercial director to becoming the famed master of long takes and painterly compositions is referred to the history of Taiwanese cinema and the philosophy of forms in Chinese art.
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From the Back Cover
Winner of the Golden Lion in Venice in 1989, A City of Sadness introduced Western audiences to the richness of New Taiwanese Cinema. Its director, Hou Hsiao-hsien is now recognised as one of the most profoundly original auteurs in contemporary cinema. A City of Sadness revisits a painful episode in recent Taiwanese history, creating an elliptical and impressionistic picture of Chiang Kai-shek's takeover of the island after the defeat of his Kuomintang army by Mao Zedong. Taiwan's politics and the suffering of her inhabitants are invoked by Hou in the story of an extended family of four brothers. The first Taiwanese film shot in direct sound, A City of Sadness echoes the forgotten voices of ordinary people facing political repression. Berenice Reynaud deciphers the complex social and historical threads that combine in the film while analysing its aesthetics in the context of Hou's entire career. His journey from being a commercial director to becoming the famed master of long takes and painterly compositions is referred to the history of Taiwanese cinema and the philosophy of forms in Chinese art.
About the Author
Berenice Reynaud is the author of Nouvelles Chines, nouveaux cinemas (1999) and has written extensively on Chinese cinema in a wide range of international publications. She teaches at the California Institute of the Arts.
Product details
Publisher : British Film Institute; 2002 edition (1 June 2002)
Language : English
Paperback : 96 pages
Dimensions : 13.36 x 0.8 x 19.23 cmCustomer Reviews:
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 2 ratings
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BFI Film Classics
A City of Sadness
Bérénice Reynaud
3.89
19 ratings6 reviews
This text introduces the Western audience to the richness of New Taiwanese Cinema. It revisits a painful episode in Taiwanese history, creating an elliptical and impressionistic picture of Chiang Kai-shek's takeover of the island after the defeat of his Kuomintang army by Mao Zedong.
GenresFilm
96 pages, Paperback
First published October 7, 2002
Book details & editions
Andrew Bishop
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May 1, 2014
A very highly recommended book to lovers of history as well as cinema. A blend of analysis, theory, and history, this is an excellent reading of the Hou Hsiao-hsien film. Not only an introduction to Hou's cinema, but also the background of Chinese cinema as well as history (especially valuable to Wong Kar Wai fans). The discussion of the actors was quite welcome in this regard. Reynaud gives special attention to the soundtrack as the different dialects and languages tell their own story about the background history of the film's setting. The use of sound in general is also highlighted as one main character is deaf and Hou is keen to indicate the presence of sound as it relates to memory and history. Reynaud closes with an analysis of the last reel of the film that is quite moving as well as a testament to Hou's mastery as a director. A stimulating analysis and a comprehensive treatment of a film, Reynaud's fine work immediately pushed me to see the film.
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Jarvo
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July 7, 2019
A City of Sadness is one of the richest and most profound films I've seen in the last decade: a meditation on the traumatic impact of history on a family whose misfortune it is to live in a place, Taiwan, oversahadowed by powerful and nosy neighbours, China and Japan. It is not an easy film: a Modernist collage which delivers the narrative elliptically, and to understand it it helps if you some prior knowledge of Taiwanese history.
This short book does an excellent job explaining the historical context of the film's story, and of the period in which it was made. It is a bit more patchy on the film craft - there is, for example, a section on traditional Chinese aesthetics which didn't, frankly, leave me much wiser. There are things going on in the film which I don't expect to fully understand, but then there is so much happening within the film that that doesn't really matter.
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Wayne Low
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January 2, 2021
Good enough read.
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Patrick McCoy
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November 17, 2013
A City Of Sadness (2002) by Berenice Reynaud is another fascinating book from BFI focusing on a single film. This time the 1989 Golden Lion winner at Venice in 1989 and Taiwanese historical epic from director Hou Hsiao-hsien is the subject. Reynaud organizes the book into five chapter: 1) Chinese History Is Made At Night, 2) A Family in the Wind of History, 3) A Polyphony of Voices, 4) Lost Spaces, and 5) An Aesthetic of the Fleeting Moment. Reynaud looks at the historical source material of the great shift from Japanese colony to refuge for Chiang Kai-shek after his defeat at the hands of Mao Zedong. She also discuses this film in the context of the other films he had mad up to 2002. I found the chapter "Lost Spaces" especially interesting since she talks about the influence of Ozu on Hou (he hadn't seen an Ozu film until the early 80s, but felt a strong connection with his work). Reynaud compares what she calls visual motif shots with what is known as Ozu's "pillow shots"--the most famous of which was the flower vase in Late Spring. The book is a well researched analysis of one of the great directors masterpieces.
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Ken Hunt
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January 2, 2017
My son is from Taiwan and I have many family friends from Taiwan so I have a strong interest in Taiwan's culture and history. As such I read books, watch documentary's, talk to people about Taiwan. This book is a cerebral and academic review of a famous Taiwanese movie, A City of Sadness, that tells a story of a family in Taiwan during a critical phase of transition of Taiwan from property of Japan to China post World War II and then taken over by the Nationalist Chinese after losing to Mao and the communists. The book and movie tell a compelling story for all, but particularly for those interested in Taiwan. I will say the book is a bit too academic and into the nuts and bolts of filmmaking, but that was its purpose. I read it for nuggets on Taiwan and greater texture on the movie A City of Sadness. Box checked.
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