A Brighter Summer Day

Edward Yang's massive four hour epic "A Brighter Summer Day" is one of the true masterpieces of the 1990s and of the "New Taiwan cinema." It's ostensibly the story of a few rival street gangs in '60s Taiwan, but the film is about a single young man's rites of passage in an era in which his country was experiencing a major upheaval. The film is so meticulous in its construction and its feeling of community (its preparation, filming and post-production took several years) that at the same time its length automatically gives it an epic quality it is a remarkably intimate film that is about as far from an epic in the traditional (Hollywood) sense as possible. There are over a hundred speaking parts in the film and it is necessary to stay focused in order to keep track of what's going on and to whom, which is a good trick to make sure your audience is always paying attention. "A Brighter Summer Day" is a very personal vision that recalls both Yang's own childhood and an actual street murder that shook the nation.

The film itself slowly builds towards this singular act of violence that, when it finally arrives, is both shocking and inevitable. "A Brighter Summer Day" keeps with the trend among the finest films to emerge from Taiwan in that it is very pared down - the cast are all nonactors and there is no non-diagetic music. It is beautifully shot, moving from the interiors of houses, schools, and cheap dance clubs to the open fields of the countryside in summertime. Alternating between violence and serenity, the film is a rhythmic and poetic evocation of a particular era. Its ironic title (in that there is no "brighter summer day" for these characters) is taken from an Elvis song that one of the kids sings at a nightclub. It is a truly exemplary modern masterpiece that got no distribution in the West but deserves to be hunted out at all costs by those who love and cherish the film art.

This bleak Taiwanese epic based on a true story exposes the dark side of growing up in a harsh environment at a young age. I know what you're thinking, "Wow, so original." But, even though it's far from being the first film of its kind, let alone the best, it manages to stay unpredictable throughout and packs plenty of surprises; think of the grand sweep of The Godfather flicks and that's similar to what you get here. Visually, it doesn't really stand out in any significant way - at least from the print I saw. Instead, going for a more down-to-earth, gritty approach, which I liked because it suited the material. With that said, Director Edward Yang makes great use of long shots and keeps things very subtle, and I honestly can't think of a single bad or out-of-place angle in the film. The cast consisting almost entirely of nonprofessionals is very natural in their roles, even eerily believable at times when the film reaches disturbing moments - and there's a lot of those. It's a no-holds barred film that refuses to compromise itself for the sake of making the viewer feel safe or comfortable.

As a coming-of-age film, it's one of the very best. As a tragic romance, it delivers due to its Shakespearean quality. As a crime film, it can stand toe-to-toe with some of the very best of them. Even more impressive is that the film is able to cover so many important and (still) relevant issues and effectively explore the human condition without any heavy-handed morals or messages. The film is as straightforward and honest as they come, making it that much more engaging. And yet, despite all its qualities, it's not a film with universal appeal. Most would frown at its bleak approach and wonder where all the praise comes from. Others would skip it entirely due to it being a slow 4 hour film with no exploitative elements. Others would be wishing everyone were killed off and/or there was more action and pretentious imagery they could easily gravitate towards. Others.....well, I think you get the picture. Ultimately, those who would get the most out of this film are those who are willing to acknowledge that the world is a messed up place and some movies are going to reflect that. So, if you're easily offended, go back to watching "safe" Hollywood pictures, because you won't be able to appreciate this underrated gem. And yeah, that's me being a condescending prick. Sue me, what I say is true, and those who have seen the film know I'm right.

I'm going to go ahead and admit right off the bat that what I just wrote does not do justice to the film's level of substance and depth. This is merely a description. Others have gone far more in-depth into what makes the film so good than I'm capable of doing from a single viewing, so I recommend reading what they've wrote as well.

This movie is a Taiwan movie,I am a Chinese college student living in mainland.I think I should take response to write a review,because I see all the reviewers are not Chinese who cant know the background of this movie.there are something followed about Chines cultures and background.

Fist,in the movie period,china had two governments,one is communist party in mainland,the other is GuoMin party in Taiwan.Korean War made Communist part cant have enough power to invade Taiwan,but Guomin party still wanted to return to mainland by getting help from America.But as we all know,Guomin party just stays in Taiwan to now. And they were just in a fear of communist party military coming into Taiwan.At that special period,another fears were among all ordinary people in Taiwan. The president of Guomin party began to arrest communist spy in Guomin party.in fact,the secret arrest was a terrible horrible to people in Taiwan. This special period is called as 'white fear period',and so many innocent persons dead at that time.

So,you can see tanks were running in road，and dad were arrested for suspects communist spy.At all,the fears were among whole society.

what's more, in 1949 there were million people fleeing to Taiwan for following the Guomin Party. And many knowledge persons and military officers also in the process.this led government couldn'却 have enough money to pay and enough food to feed . many people lose their jobs.This is a hard time for many families. And it was not a peace time. it is a hungry time, Ming's family is a example.

Although,the director want to tell a lesson , don'却 try to change the bad world.but we can know he still have a soft and ideal heart but getting hurt too much.

I saw this film on screen in 2005. The place I saw it was an old-fashioned theater in the middle of Seoul, South Korea. The film print was one of the last surviving print of this film, which is now worn out too much for another screening. It was about three years ago, and I frankly do not much about the plot. Two things, however, were still in my mind. First of all, it was much more a film with tranquility. Think about Edward Yang's last film 'Yi Yi.' Do you remember the scene where there were two teenagers walking on the street and there were scarcely any sound effect but someone's monologue? The whole film was like that. The other thing is that, despite of it deals with serious subject matters such as Taiwan's cruel anti-communist regime, it still has a sense of humor: in fact, a plenty of it. For me, now this film is like a lost summer love: passionate but vague. If complicated copyright issues be solved and clean prints of this film to be found, I'd really like to recommend this film; it is a long four-hour movie, but every minute is worth it.

Very good long movie (almost 4 hours) in every aspect: acting perfiormance cutting, quality of images and plot. In Taiwan the descenfants of those millions of Continental Chinese who fled away thereto after the Maoist takeover of their land don't feel well integrated in the Taiwanese society and form street gangs which fight one another and behave soemetimes violently. We follow this evolution in this movie in such realistyc and natural images and scenes that we Forget we are watching a movie and it looks like if we were watching real life scenes theough some window. The main plot tells the story of a young boy who is torn between opposite forces in society, at home and in love. A fascinating movie.