A Brighter Summer Day (牯嶺街少年殺人事件)

The director's cut of just under four hours, which was never released in our country, is widely recognised as the masterpiece of Yi Yi's director, who died early. Yang starts from a true incident (a 14-year-old schoolmate stabbed his girlfriend to death in 1961) to paint an epic portrait of Taiwanese society breaking free from the influence of Japanese occupation to be colonised by another 'occupier': American pop culture. These two conflicting forces are also captured in the film's style: Yang is as much influenced by the contemplative mise-en-scène of Asian slow cinema as by the rhythm and dynamics of Western rock and teen culture. The thread running through the gossamer chronicle is the doomed love between a romantic adolescent and the sweetheart of the leader of a youth gang. His quest also reflects the identity crisis of a society in transition, aware of the isolation and looming shadow of mainland China.