Hsing Lee – Qiu Jue AKA Execution in Autumn (1972)

executioninautumn2 Hsing Lee   Qiu Jue AKA Execution in Autumn (1972)

logoimdbb Hsing Lee   Qiu Jue AKA Execution in Autumn (1972)

Plot

Pei Gang (played by Ou Wei) was earlier sentenced by the magistrate to death for committing 3 cruel murders,even though he claimed that the killings were acts of self defense. We learnt that Pei Gang was in fact a spoiled brat and a bully. He also had a doting grandmother who promised that she’ll get him out of any trouble, including death row. Pei will not be executed until next Autumn, which gave him about one year’s time. When all efforts to get him out seem to fail, what will his next course of action be? The central theme of the story is not so much about his escape, but rather the transformation of this man from evil to good, from running away and blaming others into accepting responsibility for his actions and eventually, accepting his fate… Continue reading

Hsiao-hsien Hou – Zui hao de shi guang aka Three times (2005)

dc4a01410083419301012 Hsiao hsien Hou   Zui hao de shi guang aka Three times (2005)

logoimdbb Hsiao hsien Hou   Zui hao de shi guang aka Three times (2005)

Time out review
In 2000, a North American poll of critics and curators named Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Abbas Kiarostami as the most important filmmakers of the ’90s, echoing acclaim that had greeted a tour of the Taiwanese director’s work. Here, his standing’s very different: he remains largely unknown.

Unlike 2004’s ‘Café Lumière’ – the first of his films released here in over a decade – this triptych film should help to change that, since the styles and concerns of each story reflect phases in Hou’s career so far. ‘A Time for Love’ is clearly autobiographical: set in 1966, it sees a young guy fall for a girl employed at a pool hall, but military service keeps him away so long, she’s moved to another job by the time he returns. The second story, ‘A Time for Freedom’, is set in 1911 and resembles a silent movie; it depicts the relationship between a Chinese activist and a courtesan. Finally, ‘A Time for Youth’, set now, concerns the desultory coming together of a photographer and a bisexual rock star. Continue reading

pixel Hsiao hsien Hou   Zui hao de shi guang aka Three times (2005)