Review of A Brighter Summer Day (1991) by Tom A — 16 Mar 2008

Edward Yang's films seem to defy categorization -- I have only seen two (this and Yi Yi, his final film) and they are dramas that are both sprawling yet intimate, seemingly simple yet profoundly complex.

This is a demanding but rewarding film. Due to an influx of mainland Chinese into 1960s Taiwan, schools hold both "day" and "night" classes -- it is the students of these night classes who tend to form street gangs and get involved in crime.

We follow one young student (Chen Chang), a gang member who eventually falls in love with the girlfriend of one of the leaders. When that leader is killed by a rival gang, his frienship with her intesifies.

When she ends up staying with her mother at the home of one of his friends, his jealousy takes over his already explosive temper. Tragedy results. Apparently a true story, but this bare outline of the main plot thread doesn't do justice to the breadth and scope of the film.

We see the detailed machinations of the gangs as they try to one-up each other; the home lives of many of the characters (which are ripe with humour, love, sadness, etc. just as in life); the boredom of school; the uselessness of authority figures; their love of movies and rock 'n' roll; the absence of a better alternative to petty crime.

Halfway through this four-hour film there is a bravura sequence of a bloody gang assault on a rival's headquarters, reminding us that at its deadliest, crime is chaotic, confusing, and no place for children.

Like Yi Yi, film unfolds like an epic novel, with characters popping in and out, scenes beginning and ending in ways you would not expect, plot threads dropped only to be picked up later on. Haunting cinematography by Lui Higong and Zhang Longyu presages the dark, moody work in Tsiang Ming-Liang's and Hou Hsiao-hsien work.

Not as emotionally resonant as Yi Yi but an incredible tapestry that took Yang years to create. Unfortunately not available on DVD or home video -- I saw at a Yang retrospective going on now at Cinematheque Ontario.