You can help us to continue to provide this valuable resource and read many more articles by subscribing. His work has garnered more than a dozen awards, including prizes at the venice film festival, the. The puppetmaster british board of film classification. His films are among the most important to have been produced worldwide in the past thirty years. As a young man, li joins a travelling puppet theater and begins to earn a very satisfying living, eventually becoming a master puppeteer. The second sinojapanese war, also called war of resistance against japan, starting in 1937 and. A female assassin receives a dangerous mission to kill a political leader in eighthcentury china. Shop the puppetmaster, 1993, region 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 compatible dvd. The puppetmaster is a 1993 taiwanese film directed by hou hsiao hsien. The puppetmaster is a 1993 taiwanese film directed by hou hsiaohsien. Cut all known versions of this work passed uncut 15. In the first half of this century, young li tienlu joines a travelling puppet theatre and subsequently makes a career as one of taiwans leading puppeteers. Directed by hou hsiao hsien this movie is produced in taiwan. The only film from him ive seen so far is a city of sadness, which i liked a lot.
Rent hsiaohsien hou movies and tv shows on dvd and bluray. After years of exile, she is returned to the land of her birth as an exceptional assassin, with orders to kill her betrothed husbandtobe. In the discussion of the puppetmaster and three times, i bridge the gap between nick browne 2000 and li zhenyas 2000 debate about whether hou hsiao hsien s films are depoliticised. Puppeteer li tianlu tells his life story, and through it, the. Its wonderful to see hou hsiaohsiens films available on dvd at last, given how difficult it is too see them in theaters, and this is a fascinating and rewarding film. They find an apartment through relatives, and ahching is attracted to the girlfriend of a neighbor. The puppetmaster hsimeng rensheng, 1993, about the life of veteran puppeteer. The final chapter of hou hsiao hsien s trilogy on taiwanese history that also includes a city of sadness and the puppetmaster, good men, good women provides a poignant, harrowing, and thematically complex portrait of postwar and contemporary taiwan. The puppetmaster leaves a similiar impression on me im not overwhelmed, as i hoped i would be considering the films stature, but its a very good film, that does a good job of interweaving its story with the.
Based on the memoirs of li tianlu, taiwans most celebrated puppeteer, this story covers the years from lis birth in 1909 to the end of japans fiftyyear occupation of taiwan in 1945 many consider the puppetmaster a masterpiece of world cinema. The puppetmaster is probably the most accessible film in hou hsiao hsien s repertoire. For instance, the puppetmaster 1993 illustrates the consequences of. Xi meng ren sheng the puppetmaster 1993 hsiaohsien hou, tianlu li, giong lim, kueichung cheng, biography, drama, war january 3, 2017 this hou hsiao hsien masterpiece is a portrait of the childhood and adolescence of octogenarian taiwanese puppet master and actor li tienlu, who narrates the film both offscreen and onscreen. The central character is a man called pinjui, who thinks back about his life, first in taiwan and afterward in america.
Hou hsiao hsien is one of the most beloved auteur film directors active today. The puppetmaster hsimeng rensheng, 1993, about the life of veteran puppeteer li tienlu, is a groundbreaking film by one of taiwans foremost director hou. Abstract this paper traces the transformation of hou hsiao. Hou hsiao hsien s films address a particular history, geography, and culture. The puppetmaster 1994 british board of film classification. As the last and arguably least discussed film of hou hsiao hsien s taiwan trilogy starting with a city of sadness 1989 and the puppetmaster 1993, good men, good women 1995 portrays 100 years of traumatic taiwanese history spanning colonial taiwan, the second sinojapanese war, 1. A borrowed life this almostthreehour helming debut from wu nienjen, who scripted such hou hsiao hsien epics as a city of sadness and the puppetmaster taxes the viewers interest with. A taiwanese family must survive amidst political turmoil within the country. Hou s film has been criticised by some as problematic because of the. The puppetmaster is probably the most accessible film in hou hsiaohsiens repertoire. Puppeteer li tianlu tells his life story, and through it, the story.
The first taiwanese film to enter competition at cannes where it won the jury prize, the puppetmaster tells the true story of li tienlu, a celebrated handpuppeteer who lived through tumultuous times of the 20th century, including taiwans long. Puppeteer li tianlu tells his life story, and through it, the story of taiwan in the first half of the 20th century. The paper approaches the films with regard to genre and author. Retrospective hou hsiao hsien asian film festival barcelona. Hou hsiao hsien s goodbye south, goodbye taiwanese revival doc films university of chicago thursday, 7pm goodbye south, goodbye was neither the first nor the last time that hou hsiao hsien delved into the world of petty crime indeed the subject may be as important to his filmography as taiwanese history, yet it may be the film where.
A stunningly beautiful film based on the first 37 years of li tienlus life in japanese occupied taiwan, the sophistication in the structure, cinematography, sound, and the interesting use of symbolism is hard to parallel. In 9thcentury china, nie yinniang is a young woman who was abducted in childhood from a decorated general and raised by a nun who trained her in the martial arts. I argue that hou hsiao hsien s films are political and that his humanitarian. This is the archive of articles selected from the print version of cinema scope magazine. Hou s signature long and static shots almost invite critics to give auteurist readings of his films, often privileging the analysis of cinematic techniques at the expense of the context from which hou. With qi shu, chen chang, yun zhou, satoshi tsumabuki. Hsimeng jensheng the puppetmaster 1993 rotten tomatoes. This hou hsiao hsien masterpiece is a portrait of the childhood and adolescence of octogenarian taiwanese puppet master and actor li tienlu, who narrates the film both offscreen and onscreen. But dark clouds gather during the second world war when.
The films opening image, of a donkey quietly grazing in a field, immediately suggests an acute awareness of natural ambience. This pioneering study of hou hsiao hsien illuminates the many distinctive achievements of taiwans famous director. Although recent years have witnessed a surge in western scholarship on hou s films, dust in the wind. Masterpieces like a city of sadness, the puppetmaster, and flowers of shanghai established hou as a major and influential figure on the international film scene, while subsequent projects found him delving into drugfueled club. A scene from hou hsiaohsien s martial arts film the assassin, which will have its premiere at cannes.
There are four brothers of the lim family, and each sets a different path in this new world. The puppetmaster hsimeng rensheng1993, hou hsiao hsien, taiwan, 142 min. With li tienlu, lin chiangeverything seems to come together in the puppetmaster. Xi meng ren sheng the puppetmaster 1993 hsiaohsien. Hou hsiaohsien says he has spent years getting the assassin just right.
Hou hsiao hsien s seventh feature film, dust in the wind 1986, central motion picture corporation, marks a crucial yet rarely acknowledged turning point in his career as one of the most influential and internationally acclaimed filmmakers to emerge from the taiwan new cinema of the 1980s. Hou hsiao hsien is arguably the most celebrated chineselanguage film director in the international film festival realm. Hou hsiao hsien in 1989, the film director hou hsiao hsien recalls for the taiwanese people erased memories from the turbulent years 19451949 with his controversial film a city of sadness. Hou hsiao hsien s films question all the cinematic elements, and break from the european tradition of fiction and theater art. Based on the memoirs of li tianlu, taiwans most celebrated puppeteer, this story. Hsien s creative approach through an investigation of the intimate relationship between hou s films and the development of taiwanese film history by placing hou s films into the interlacing framework of the politics, economy, society and aesthetics of taiwan. For such a prodigious filmmaker, there are many of hou hsiao hsien s films which remain widely unavailable in english. Deleuze and hou hsiaohsiens mosaic in good men, good. In the hands of a puppet master, xi meng ren sheng. Three years later, he made the autobiographical the boys from fengkuei, which he considers to be the real beginning of his work as an artist in cinema.
From there, he went on to create several of the defining works of the taiwanese new wave, one of the greatest moments in the cinema of. Directors hou hsiao hsien, hou hsiao hsien cast includes lin chung, cheng kueichung, yang li yin, i toshiro, tsai chen nan, cheng kuei chung, cho ju wei. Cinema scope global discoveries on dvd conspicuously. Directors hou hsiao hsien cast includes lin chung, cheng kueichung. The puppetmaster, 1993, region 1,2,3,4,5,6 compatible dvd. With tienlu li, giong lim, kueichung cheng, chienru huang. The puppetmaster 1993 hsiaohsien hou, hou hsiao hsien.
Ahching and his friends have just finished school in their island fishing village, and now spend most of their time drinking and fighting. Three of them decide to go to the port city of kaohsiung to look for work. The sounds of silence reverberate loudest in the assassin, taiwanese master hou hsiaohsien s first feature in eight years. The story revolves around actual events that developed in taiwan following the colonial occupation from japan. A stunningly beautiful film based on the first 37 years of li tienlus. However, this is not due to an inert cultural tradition so much as to numerous historicalcontextual factors most of all his being from taiwan which together explain the accomplishments of hou. In this second installment of a trilogy on taiwanese life in the 20th century city of sadness is the first and good men, good women is the third, lis development as an artist and husband plays out. Hou hsiao hsien directed his first film in 1980, after years of assisting and writing for other filmmakers.
His body of work in films such as the puppetmaster, city of sadness, and flowers of shanghai reflects a powerfully unique style characterized by intricate lighting, improvisational acting, and exceptionally long, static shots. This taiwanese drama is based on the memoirs of that countrys most accomplished puppeteer, li tianlu. Because his father died when pinjui was only 1 year old and his mother had. A stunningly beautiful film based on the first 37 years of li tienlus life in japanese occupied taiwan, the sophistication in the structure, cinematography, sound, and the interesting use of.