Taiwan. Dir. Edward Yang. 1985, 110 mins. 35mm. With Hou Hsiao-hsien, Tsai Chin.
"A turning point in the history of Taiwanese cinema." —Jonathan Rosenbaum
Hou, who co-wrote the screenplay for Taipei Story with his frequent collaborator Chu Tien-wen and mortgaged his house to finance his friend Edward Yang’s second feature, also stars in the film as Lung. Returning to Taiwan from a stint in the United States, Lung has abandoned his dreams of a baseball career to join his family's old-fashioned textile business. While Lung is lodged in the past, his real-estate developer girlfriend Chin (Yang’s future wife Tsai Chin) sees career opportunities ahead, and Yang shows their relationship coming apart at the seams with frightful clarity.