Tackling Taiwan: The Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien
The internationally touring film retrospective Also Like Life: The Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien, honoring Taiwanese modern master Hou Hsiao-hsien, arrives at the Museum on March 6.
If you’ve never heard of Hou, that’s understandable. Unlike the films of his compatriot Ang Lee (director of The Ice Storm, Brokeback Mountain, and Life of Pi, among many others), Hou’s work has rarely been screened in the United States. In Europe, however, Hou has been a festival favorite for decades, winning the first-ever Golden Lion for a Chinese-language film (City of Sadness) at the 1989 Venice Film Festival and a Jury Prize at Cannes in 1994 for The Puppetmaster.
In his home country, Hou has influenced every important filmmaker since his ascension to prominence during the Taiwanese New Wave movement of the 1980s. Reflecting the widespread appreciation of Hou’s importance, the Also Like Life series makes stops at prominent venues in 22 cities, from New York to London to Tokyo.
So what’s the attraction of Hou’s films?
► Hou is an undisputed master of the static, long take in cinematography. Each shot is masterfully staged, and Hou is never boring: He takes care to make sure each take is teeming with movement.
► He tackles the issue of filming Taiwan’s complex 20th-century history in a unique way. Hou’s films always carry subtle political undertones, but he focuses—in understated fashion—on the lives of specific individuals and families. The result is an honest take on Taiwanese history from the experiences of those who lived it.
► The modest veneer of Hou’s films masks a deeper, universal brilliance. As film critic J. Hoberman wrote in the Village Voice, “Is there another filmmaker who can so fluidly celebrate the moment as well as the epoch, and do so in the same shot?”
Explore Also Like Life in Houston over two weekends. At the Museum (March 6–8), see A Time to Live and a Time to Die on Friday, Dust in the Wind on Saturday, and The Puppetmaster on Sunday. The retrospective continues with three more films at Rice Cinema the following weekend.
From the cover of Hou Hsiao-hsien, edited by Richard I. Suchenski.
A Time to Live and a Time to Die (1985)
Dust in the Wind (1986)
The Puppetmaster (1993)
Good Men, Good Women (1995)
Flowers of Shangai (1998)
Millennium Mambo (2001)
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