Rate: A Brighter Summer Day (1991, Yang)

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I recently looked into this one and have heard nothing but incredible things about it, so I wanted to hear what everyone on here thinks about it. I have not watched it yet, but I think I might today since no work and I have 4 hours to kill.

And where would you rank it alongside Yang's other films, Taipei Story, and Yi Yi?
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Recent Viewings (rewatches noted with an *)
Barbarian- (4/5)
Nope- (4.5/5)
Jurassic Park Dominion- 0.5/5
What Josiah Saw- (4.5/5)



It's just as good as both Yi Yi and Tapei Story if not superior to both (I would throw in the Terrorisers as well which is also one of my favourite films by Edward Yang). But beware it's not as overtly philosophical like Tapei Story and it doesn't have the emotional punch of Yi Yi and it's much more challenging than both. A Brighter Summer Day is about an entire people searching for a identity. It's very reflective, very existential and a certain darkness looms over the entire picture.
It's a sublimely insightful chronicle of the social uncertainty and cultural fracture of transplanted Chinese as they attempt to rebuild their lives in a newly created nation after being relegated to an unforeseeable life of perpetual exile. Yang thoughtfully imbues thematic concerns at every level - character, story, and mise en scène and in doing so he has crafted a work that achieves a level of profundity rarely seen in cinema. I would give it my highest recommendation.
An easy 10/10.





Tried watching it twice made it to the hour point and the hour half point, as a complitionist I give all Criterion films a shot but I really didn't care for it.