A Brighter Summer Day

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.

Arthouse movies are so underrated on imdb and I don't even know why. I guess this site is for popular movies only and top 250 is ridicilous. Letterboxd is much better site for movie lovers.

4 hours flew by and this is epic movie. It is pretty good but it ain't Raise the Red Lantern.

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.

I just finished watching this four hour epic and something tells me that this is going to remain with me for a long, long time. I was glad I entered the cinema hall with no foreknowledge of what the film was about or anything about the story, except that it was directed by Edward Yang, whose Yi Yi I liked. Am I not glad I did that? The entire film, especially the second half, is an emotional powerhouse. Its funny, sociological and emotionally brutal.

The four hour run time was quite a deterrent however I planned it well and took one bathroom break but it was all worth it in the end. I would not recommend that you read anything of the story before you watch the film because several of the reviews above have spoilers in them. All I'll say is that it is about street gangs, but like nothing you've ever seen. It about lost childhood and children growing up so fast that its scary. The fact that all of this really happened makes it chilling.

I'm surprised that not many people have seen this film yet because it certainly deserves a classic status. The direction is probably one of the best I've ever experienced and I will definitely seek out other Edward Yang movies to watch.

The acting by all the teenage actors and children is nothing short of brilliant and I can see that some of the key actors never acted in another movie again which I believe is a waste.

I don't think its out on video as yet, however I would highly recommend that you seek it out. In my opinion the film demands total attention and is best watched on the big screen rather than on video.

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.