HSIAO-HSIEN HOU

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BB

Original title:  Kohi Jiko

Japan/Taiwan, 2003.  Shochiku Company, Asahi Shimbun, Sumitomo Corporation, Eisei Gekijo, Imagica Corp..  Screenplay by Hsiao-Hsien Hou, T’ien-wen Chu.  Cinematography by Ping Bin Lee.  Produced by Ching-Song Liao, Hideji Miyajima, Fumiko Osaka, Ichiro Yamamoto.  Music by Yosui Inoue.  Production Design by Toshiharu Aida.  Costume Design by Kazumi Hoshino, Yoji Yamada.  Film Editing by Ching-Song Liao.  

A beautifully photographed, if empty, look at the life of a young Japanese woman doing research on a Taiwanese composer and visiting her parents after discovering she is pregnant. Her friend works at a bookstore and has a curious obsession with recording train sounds.

The characters are flat, and Hou’s ability to film daily life at its most natural provokes the question of whether or not movies need a little bit of melodramatic fiction to be at least half-interesting. It purports to be an homage to the work of Ozu (celebrating the centennial of his birth), but it features none of the passionate humanity that made his films so endearing.

Toronto International Film Festival:  2004

Venice Film Festival:  In Competition