A Brighter Summer Day
| A Brighter Summer Day | |
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Theatrical Poster
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| Traditional | 牯嶺街少年殺人事件 |
| Simplified | 牯岭街少年杀人事件 |
| Mandarin | Gǔlǐng jiē shàonián shārén shìjiàn |
| Literally | Youngster Homicide Incident at Guling Street |
| Directed by | Edward Yang |
| Produced by | Wei-yen Yu |
| Written by | Hong-ya Yan Ming-tang Lai Shun-ching Yang Edward Yang |
| Starring |
Chang Chen Lisa Yang Chang Kuo-Chu Elaine Jin |
| Cinematography | Hui-kung Chang Long-yu Zhang |
| Edited by | Bowen Chen |
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Production
company |
Yang & His Gang Filmmakers
Jane Balfour Films |
| Distributed by | Cine Qua Non Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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237 minutes |
| Country | Taiwan |
| Language |
Mandarin Shanghainese Taiwanese Hokkien |
A Brighter Summer Day is a 1991 Taiwanese drama film directed by Edward Yang. The film is an extraordinarily large project for a Chinese-language film, not only for its duration of almost four hours, but also for its involvement of more than 100 amateur actors in different roles. The English title is derived from the lyrics of Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". The film was selected as the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Academy Awards but was not nominated.
The film depicts a great array of political and existential themes such as the need of guidance during adolescence, the loss of Taiwan’s cultural identity in favour of the growingly influential Western culture, the unrestrained violence caused by an uneasy socio-political juncture, the desire of migrating towards an expectedly better country, the hardships of parenthood, the awkwardly naive and sometimes dangerous way in which teenagers convey love and sex, the downside of multi-faceted friendship, the strained differences between social classes forced to coexist in the same dismal place, and, especially, the fatal and irreversible consequences of an aimless life and a confused upbringing.
The film takes place over the course of four years in Taiwan, and is about a student in junior high, Xiao Si'r. Xiao Si'r is the fourth child of a large family living in Taipei. The family lives modestly off of the father's government job, and it is clear that Si'r's mother and father are uncomfortable in Taiwan. The film opens in 1959, as Si'r's father fruitlessly pleads with a school administrator to keep Si'r in day school, as opposed to the night school, which is populated with delinquents. The morning after, Si'r and his father listen to the radio, which is broadcasting a list of students accepted into various schools in Taipei.
The film then advances to 1960, where Si'r, along with his best friend, Cat, is spying on the filming of a period drama in a movie studio. Caught by a guard in the rafters, they steal his flashlight and flee the studio, returning to their school. Si'r, noticing movement in a darkened classroom, turns on the flashlight and startles a pair of lovers, whose identities remain unclear. The film then proceeds to introduce Si'r's classmates and peers, most notably two gangs of students, the Little Park Boys, the children of civil servants, and the 217s, the children of military officers. These two gangs are fierce rivals, often attacking one another. Si'r is not a member of either gang, although he is closer to the Little Park Boys than the 217's.
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Wikipedia