good men good women

Hsiao-hsien Hou is definitely an auteur. i've read somewhere that he is the least distributed director although he is one of the hotshots in international festivals. his latest film "three times" has supposedly made a few people walk out of the theater, as it was even slower than cafe lumiere, but the commentator i read praised the film a lot. (another case of tsai ming-liang?)



in this film good men good women, the narrative is more complicated than the simple cafe lumiere. we follow the story of an actress playing the role of a taiwanese communist joining to anti-japon resistance in china. shot in black and white this part of the narrative gives an account of an historical and political struggle.

at the same time another portion of the narrative is devoted to the personal past of the actress, who is haunted by the death of her lover. the two narratives coalesce to form a story of two lives that illuminate each other.




the lack of dramatization (or melodramatization) and underplaying of climax contribute once again to a represenatation that neither colonizes history not the two women subjects.

it is definitely not for the people who want to get the story right away. one must be patient to let the story unfold and hit you with its emotional power. once again Hsiao-hsien Hou proves to be a master.