In partnership with Taipei Cultural Center, Metrograph is hosting a new series, “Taipei Stories,” from December 23 to January 7. This series will focus on directors Hou Hsiao Hsien and Edward Yang as storytellers of modern life in Taipei, as well as other filmmakers influenced by Hou, Yang, and Taiwan’s New Wave Cinema Movement.
The series will begin with two of Hou’s films set in Taipei, “Millennium Mambo” and “Daughter of the Nile.” While Hou received international acclaim for his arthouse works, these films were unique in that they were made to attract a broad audience, focusing on the sentimental entanglements and alienation of young people in modern Taiwan. “There's a delirious, tangy sexiness in ‘Millennium Mambo’ that the director has never so openly embraced,” according to Elvis Mitchell’s review in the New York Times following its release.
The program also includes Yang’s “Yi Yi,” “Confucian Confusion,” and “Taipei Story.” Edward Yang’s films are essential in depicting the series’ core themes, given his focus on Taipei. In Yang’s films, the city often appears detached from its past, and its human inhabitants are submerged in an ocean of gigantic machinery, impersonal high-rises, and indistinguishable streets.
As Hou and Yang continued to lead Taiwan's New Wave Cinema into the 21st century, their works inspired many younger directors in Taiwan. Therefore, this series also features films by Tsai Ming-liang and Ang Lee, as the New Wave Movement represents part of their path to directing. Accordingly, Tsai’s “Vive L’Amour” and “Rebels of the Neon God,” as well as Lee’s “Eat Drink Man Woman,” are included in this program.
In addition, “Flowers of Taipei” has been selected as the series’ closing film to honor Hou and Yang. The documentary travels across the globe, analyzing how New Wave Cinema affected generations of filmmakers around the world, making it a fitting conclusion to the series. For more information, please visit Metrograph’s official website at metrograph.com.
Photo credit: Metrograph