Hou Hsiao-hsien 16: Contexts 7 – Dangerous Youth (Hsin Chi, 1969)

Continuing with our discussion of Hsin Chi films generously made available in wonderful versions by the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute. This time the focus is on DANGEROUS YOUTH. We offer a bit of background on Hsin Chi; discuss how the film is similar to Nagisa Oshima’s CRUEL STORY OF YOUTH, Godard’s BREATHLESS, BEAT GIRL, and all the motorcycle gang Roger Corman films of the mid-sixties. The film has the thematics and energy of pre-code sex melodramas but surrounded by a rock-pop soundtrack stylised and transformed by foregrounding the sax. DANGEROUS YOUTH is visually inventive, with fascinating compositions, interesting intimations of nudity through shadows, compositions that make the most of the architecture to suggest interior states and external perspectives. The story of a young girl groomed into prostitution for money by the pimp she loves and the richer woman who is pulling his strings, is given sexy, noirish form and fascinating gender politics. Does anyone believe the end?

The podcast can also be listened to on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2zWZ7Egdy6xPCwHPHlOOaT

and on itunes here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/first-impressions-thinking-aloud-about-film/id1548559546

Those of you interested in the trailer (always fascinating to see what a trailer promises a film to be versus what it ends up being):

The following scenes are referred to in the podcast:

Opening Scene:

60s Brit Pop

Motorcycle and Stairwell:

Attempted Rape 1:

Third Motorcycle Ride:

Modernity in Taiwan:

Attempted Rape Two:

Sex in and out of focus:

Predatory Males:

Gender Trouble:

Unconvincing Ending:

King’s College Programme Notes for Film:

Click to access Dangerous-Youth.pdf

Richard has also provided this very interesting link on Hsin Chi: 

There’s a wonderful introduction to Taiyupian Cinema: an introduction to Taiwan-language cinema on youtube here:

 

José Arroyo

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