728. Tong nien wang shi/The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985)

Running Time: 138 minutes
Directed By: Hsiao-hsien Hou
Written By: Chu T'ienwen, Hsiao-hsien Hou
Main Cast: Mei-Feng, Tang Yu-Yuen, Tien Feng, Xin Shufen, Yiu Ann-Shuin

HOU HSIAO-HSIEN HAT TRICK: PART ONE OF THREE

Earlier today, it was announced that "Levinson Week" would be the final tribute week of this season, as we roll into the final twenty-five films and toward the sixth TOP 20 list. This, for those of you who care, will be the final "hat trick" of the season. Furthermore, it's worth noting that this was originally intended to be a Brian De Palma hat trick, but, because two of the three Hou films are currently only available via YouTube, I changed it.

The film centers around Ah-ha, who is just a boy when the film starts out. Ah-ha lives with his four older siblings (three brothers, one sister), his mother & father and his grandmother, the latter of whom constantly talks about returning to the mainland. Ah-ha is a typical boy; he has his group of friends, he gets in trouble, he plays games, he goes to school and for the most part, he has fun. His mother is strict and his father, who is in poor health, often distances himself from the rest of the family. When his father dies, Ah-ha and his family are devastated. Following the death of Ah-ha's father, we flash forward to see Ah-ha as a teenager, the leader of a street gang, who seems to have lost his way. He still holds his family in high esteem, keeping his cancer ridden mother at the top of his priority list, but as a troubled youth, still getting into a fair share of trouble.

'Ya know...that's really it! I mean, you'd think at a running time of 138 minutes, there would be more to detail in the plot synopsis, but really, as far as I could tell, this is a nothing happening movie. After watching "The Time to Live and the Time to Die", I visited a few message boards, read a few comments and as far as I could gather, a lot of people seem to think that this movie is a masterpiece. Well, unfortunately, the masterpiece element of this film was totally lost on me. At about the halfway mark, I stopped and wondered when something was going to happen, outside of the father dying. I realize that the film is about a boy who, after the death of his father, is lead astray and the film questions whether he'll return to the right path or continue down the wrong one. That's a fine theme to explore, but this movie just really bored me. If Hou could've juiced up the script a little more (maybe not added more action, but just made me care about the people and their situations more) and made the characters a little more defined and recognizable (besides Ah-ha, who was obviously the main character, since he's the only one that's really fleshed out) I think I could have really enjoyed this work. The music was good and the basic premise was fine, as I'm all for a toned down script, with not a lot of action and the exploration of a basic theme. The film seemed to really be made for a certain culture and a certain period and was very behind it's time, if you ask me. All in all it just totally failed to win me over and I have a feeling this "hat trick" is going to be a tough one to get through.

RATING: 3.5/10  Here's HOPING "A City of Sadness" is, at least, a little better. Expecting disappointment is a good thing, because that's when the biggest surprises happen.

MOVIES WATCHED: 576
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 425

November 11, 2012  11:33pm