Tag Archives: A City of Sadness

Hou Hsiao-hsien 21: A City of Sadness (1989)

After all our contextualising, we return to Hou Hsiao-hsien films proper, focussing on the masterpiece that is a City of Sadness. We are able now to discuss not only what the film feels like to watch or what it is about in formal terms but can now add various kinds of contexts: historical, political, social, aesthetic, industrial, and even how our own personal histories find echo in the film and how those echoes add a layer of insight and understanding into the film and perhaps also into ourselves. It makes for a rich but still — as is proper with all great works — initial and tentative discussion.

The podcast above 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

The following clips are discussed in the podcast:
Framing of shots and movement within frame

The movement over the mountain at the beginning

Different planes of action

Muteness as metaphor:

photographing the end:

Inter-titles:

 

Perfect camera placement: