This film is one of the more important films to come out of the Taiwanese New Cinema movement of the 1980s-1990s. Set between the end of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan and the Nationalist takeover in 1949, City of Sadness focuses on the lives and suffering of a single family over the course of the aforementioned time, which includes the infamous February 28th Incident. Along with The Puppetmaster and Good Men, Good Women, this is the first film in Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s “Taiwan Trilogy” which deals with Taiwanese history.

Although the film is somewhat lengthy and contains a ton of long shots and long takes (one of Hou’s trademarks), the story is quite engaging albeit a bit depressing. Despite the film starting with a birth and ending with a wedding, in between there is much death and loss, which presents a kind of dual effect in the end – is it suppose to be a happy ending or a sad one? Hopeful or hopeless? The ambiguity of the film leaves it open to interpretation slightly.

The only unfortunate thing is that the film isn’t widely distributed, and to my knowledge there aren’t any high quality copies with English subtitles. I was fortunate that a professor of mine screened the film with subtitles, but the picture quality was far from perfect, and didn’t do Hou’s sweeping cinematography justice. If you’re familiar with Chinese subtitles and can read them easily enough, there are tons of copies with them available. If you’re seeking an English subbed version, you’re in for a long search.