As light and airy as a cream puff, this Taiwanese entry in the romcom genre from director Hou Hsiao-hsien is certainly sweet, but maybe a little too sweet. It's notable for being Hou's first film, as well as for starring pop diva Feng Fei-Fei, the "Queen of Hats," opposite singer/songwriter/actor Kenny Bee. The pair perform a few songs on the soundtrack, played over action like them riding bikes, and him crashing after noticing her pedaling by. You get the idea, there's a lot of corniness here. She plays a young woman who's being set up by her rich parents to a guy she hasn't even met, but then meets a surveyor out in the country. Her prospective husband turns up, leading to the softest love triangle you can imagine, and an awfully convenient way of resolving things. The film isn't very memorable, but it did have me thinking of another of Feng Fei-Fei's songs from the period, Hao Hao Ai Wo (Love Me Well), which I guess has a permanent place in my mind, so it had that going for it.
![One of world cinema's most dynamic and highly regarded auteurs, Hou Hsiao-hsien has influenced entire generations of filmmakers and was once dubbed "one of the three directors most crucial to the future of cinema". The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present three films from early in his career, Cute Girl, The Green, Green Grass of Home and The Boys from Fengkuei, all making their worldwide debut on Blu-ray.
Cute Girl (1980) - A young bride-to-be falls for a laid-back land surveyor whilst visiting her family in the countryside. Conceived as a commercial vehicle for popular Hong Kong singer Kenny Bee, this romantic comedy was Hou Hsiao-hsien's debut feature.
The Green, Green Grass of Home (1982) - A substitute teacher (again played by Kenny Bee) moves to a remote village, where he falls in love with another teacher at the local school.
The Boys from Fengkuei (1983) - Three young men leave their fishing village for the city to look for work, where they face some harsh realities about growing up. The film which established Hou Hsiao-hsien as a leading figure of the Taiwanese New Wave, The Boys from Fengkuei was rapturously received in Europe and is often considered the director's first mature masterwork.
EARLY HOU HSIAO-HSIEN: THREE FILMS 1980-1983, a two disc set of formative films by one of world cinema's greatest directors, will be available on Blu-ray for the first time anywhere in the world from 16 April 2018, as part of The Masters of Cinema Series featuring a Limited Edition O-card [First 2000 copies only].](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZTY2YTZkMTUtNzIxYi00ZDM2LTkyOWUtODYzZDY0YWM3ZjgzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTg2NTc4MzA@._V1_QL75_UX1000_CR0,0,1000,563_.jpg)
