Liao Ching-song Movies

Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge (Flight of the Red Balloon), which constitutes celebrated Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's first French-language picture, represents both an homage to Albert Lamorisse's beloved 1956 short The Red Balloon and an expansion of that earlier picture. Hou begins with Lamorisse's central conceit -- that of a mysterious red balloon tracking a lonely young French boy around the city -- and broadens the story to weave an extended meditation on urban isolation and dysfunctional, slightly broken Parisian lives. The red balloon here acts as a kind of observer to a little boy named Simon (Simon Iteanu), who lives with his harried mother, Suzanne (Juliette Binoche) -- a voice actress in a puppet theater -- in a cramped flat in the City of Lights. Simon spends the majority of his time away from Suzanne, accompanied by a Chinese film student, Song (Song Fang), who baby-sits. From time to time, Suzanne recognizes her neglect of young Simon and then overcompensates with sporadic bursts of affection and devotion. She remains far more concerned with the pressures of her daily life -- specifically, the problems wrought by her downstairs tenant (Hippolyte Giardot) and by Simon's ere-estranged father -- than with the emotional state of her young son. Meanwhile, Song finds the parallels between the suddenly emergent red balloon and the plotline of the Lamorisse short rather mesmerizing, and films young Song with the balloon to underscore this point. For the most part, Hou foregoes major story developments and simply uses screen time to witness the interaction of Song, Suzanne, and Simon as they live out existences of quiet despair. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Leading Malaysian independent filmmaker Ho Yuhang steps behind the camera once again to tell this sensitive tale of a mournful road trip that also serves to signal one teenager's reluctant transition into adulthood. En route back to his small town following an extended visit with his older brother Hong (Cheung Wing Hong) in Koala Lampur, nineteen-year-old Tung (Kuan Choon Wai) misplaces his money in the bustling bus station. When Tung discovers that small-time hood Hong has died in a violent pool hall fight shortly after his departure, the younger brother soon makes his way back to the city in order to attend his elder sibling's funeral. Upon traveling home for the second time, Tung's mental malaise leads him to feel like a stranger in his once-familiar home, and soon prompts him to realize that in order to experience life to its fullest, he too must now brave the future and strike out on his own. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

An elderly woman discovers her trusting nature is a severe disadvantage in the 21st century in this comedy drama from Chinese filmmaker Ann Hui. Ye Rutang (Siqin Gaowa) was born and raised in Manchuria, but came to Shanghai to seek her fortune years ago. Now in her early sixties and once again single, Ye is uncomfortably aware that the China she knew as a young woman is changing radically, and she senses she's fallen behind the times when she loses a position as a tutor because her English doesn't sound "American" enough. As Ye looks for work, she begins to fall victim to a series of con artists, including a Chinese opera singer (Chow Yun-Fat) who uses his charm to pull her into a scheme selling futures on funeral plots; a neighbor fallen on hard times (Shi Ke) who isn't as bad off as she claims; and even her own 12-year-old nephew (Guan Wenshuo), who fakes a broken leg to get after her savings. Ye's misadventures leave her penniless, and she is somehow implicated in the grim fate of a local busybody (Lisa Lu), forcing Ye's daughter (Vicky Zhao Wei) to come to a reluctant rescue. Yi Ma De Hou Xian Dai Sheng Huo (aka The Postmodern Life of My Aunt) received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A freelance writer living in Tokyo defies social taboo by choosing life as a single mother in director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's meditative tribute to acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu. When Yoko announces that she is pregnant and has no intentions of marrying the father of her child, her traditional family is outraged. Though the headstrong decision made by the young mother-to-be leaves her finding little sympathy from within her family circle, a blossoming friendship with the owner of a local second-hand bookstore goes a long way in alleviating Yoko's feelings of loneliness. As Yoko begins to re-evaluate her increasingly complicated life, her newfound friend silently pines for her despite his frustrating inability to vocalize his true feelings. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Set in a coastal town from which illegal immigrants often leave for the dangerous passage to America, Chinese Sixth Generation filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai's film tells the story of a man who once braved that very trip, but was forced to return home. While in the United States, Er Di fathered a child with his employer's daughter, and was deported when her parents, who also came from the coastal town where the film is set, found out. Er Di leads a listless life, carrying on a secret affair with a worldly actress from the visiting Shanghai Opera, until he learns that his boss' family, along with his son, are returning. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide

Chang Tso-Chi's Meili Shiguang (The Best of Times) is a drama about teenage friends in over their heads. Wei (Fan Wing) is a nineteen year-old nightclub employee from a troubled family. His best friend is the unpredictable and occasionally unstable Jie (Gao Meng-Jie). Wei is given a promotion at his place of employment when the gangster that owns the establishment asks Wei to make collections. Wei brings Jie along, but Jie ends up killing a rival gangster, setting off a series of events that threaten both of their lives.The Best of Times competed at the Venice Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Two rebellious youngsters deal with the harsh realities of life on the streets of Taipei in this tough but compassionate drama. Fei-Fei (Sinje) is a young woman chafing under the restrictive yoke of her mother's authority, and when she discovers her mother has been reading her diaries, she decides it's time to strike out on her own. Fei-Fei moves in with her best friend Yili (Kelly Kuo), whose boyfriend Tiger (Leon Dai) is the top man in a local street gang. Fei-Fei joins Yili in selling betelnuts on the street -- a pepper which in sufficient quantities produces a mild high not unlike marijuana. While hawking her wares, Fei-fei meets Feng (Chang Chen), who has just finished a hitch in the army and is looking for something to do with his life. Fei-Fei and Feng fall in love and move in together, but their lives quickly take divergent paths -- Feng makes friends with one of Tiger's underlings, Guang (Kao Ming-chun), and soon becomes a member of Taipei's criminal underground. Fei-Fei, on the other hand, is looking for something better than selling low-level drugs on the street, and tries to strike out in a new career in show business. Ai Ni Ai Wo (which literally translates as "Love You, Love Me," though the film's official English-language title is Betelnut Beauty) won an award for Lin Cheng-sheng as Best Director at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A young man from rural China struggles to make good in Beijing in this drama, which suggests an updated and relocated variation on the neorealist classic Ladri di Biciclette. Guei (Cui Lin) is a teenager who arrives in the big city looking for work; he and a handful of other youngsters are hired as bicycle messengers, with their employer giving them new mountain bikes under the condition that they're paid ten yuan for each message they deliver, and the bicycles are theirs once they've made 58 trips. Guei discovers the job is not an easy one, as he deals with the complexity of the huge city, confusion over who gets what message, and the condescending attitude Beijing residents often display toward the new arrivals. Guei is determined to make good and is close to owning his bike when it's stolen; Guei's boss tells him the only way he can keep is job is if he can find the bicycle, which, in a city the size of Beijing, is no easy task. Against all odds, Guei finds the bicycle, but it's now in the hands of Jian (Li Bin), who claims he got it at a second-hand shop and isn't about to give it up. Guei steals the bike back from Jian, but now has to deal with the teenaged tough and his roughneck friends. Shiqisuide Danche was produced as part of a series of films from young Chinese directors called "Tales of Three Cities," co-produced by French and Taiwanese companies. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Teenager Ah Chung believes that he was born unlucky. Living at home in Taipei with his slightly retarded brother, his troubled and traumatized step-sister, his senile grandfather and his hard-working but overwhelmed mother, his life bears this out. This tragic drama presents snippets from Ah Chung's difficult life as he tries to find himself, stay out of trouble and take care of his family. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Hou Hsiao Hsien rounds out his loose trilogy on Taiwanese history -- The Puppet Master dealt with Japan's occupation of the island and City of Sadness focuses on Chiang Kai-shek's bloody occupation immediately following the war -- with this mediation on the anti-Communist campaign during the 1950s. The story is ostensibly about the real life events of Chiang Bi-yu (Annie Shizuka Inoh), who ventures to China with her new husband, Chung Hao-tung (Lim Giong), to join the anti-Japanese resistance along with three other friends. Once in China, they are immediately suspected of being Japanese spies and are almost executed. While working with the resistance, Chiang is forced to give up her first-born child -- the call of the motherland had no time for motherhood. When the war ends, they return to Taiwan. Chung takes a job as the principal of a school in the south of the island and starts a Marxist journal called the Enlightenment. As the Red Army swept down the Korean peninsula, Chiang Kai-shek -- at the behest of the Americans -- instituted the White Terror, which rooted out communists of every color. Soon Chung and Chiang are rounded up and brutally interrogated. Chiang is eventually released to her small brood of children while Chung is thrown against the wall and shot. Hou complicates this narrative by layering an additional story line about an actress, Liang Ching (also played by Annie Shizuka Inoh), who is rehearsing for a movie about the life of Chiang Bi-yu. Still reeling from the murder of her gangster boyfriend, Ah Wei (Jack Kao), three years previous, Liang is being faxed daily pages of her stolen diary, forcing her to confront her past. Soon the borders between the lives of Chiang and Liang become less and less distinct. This film was dubbed the single best film of the 1990s by Cahier du Cinema. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

This Taiwanese drama focuses on the strained relations between a father and son. It is set in a small mining village on the northern tip of Taiwan. This area owes it's development to Japan which once controlled it. The older residents of the town still hold the Japanese in high regard, but the post-WW II generation is contemptuous of their benefactors. This generational difference creates the conflict between the father, Sega, a miner, and son, Wen-Jian. The story is told from Wen-Jian's point of view and flashes back to three parts of Wen-Jian's life. Each part reflects upon the impact the Japanese had upon the town and his father's life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A-kuo and A-tou are teen-aged boys living in an industrial town in Taiwan. When they are not in school, they generally hang out with their buddy Hsiao Kao, a very stylish and charismatic younger gangster who enjoys their company and support. When one of Hsia Kao's gangland patrons is gunned down, the trio set out to revenge the killing. As a result, the two teens are forced into hiding. One boy tells his dad he wants to go to America, which nearly kills the old man. The other just lays low. When things cool down a bit, they head on up to Taipei, looking for their gangster friend and sampling the gritty pleasures of the capital city's underworld and nightlife. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

It is 1949, in Singapore, and two acting troupes are rehearsing their forthcoming performances on the same stage. In this comic tour-de-force, scenes from one show are rehearsed and then scenes from another, and the two entirely different plays become intermingled in a hilarious fashion. The first play is a tragic melodrama about two star-crossed lovers. The second is based on an old Chinese classic comedy, called "The Peach Blossom Land," about a cuckolded husband who is magically transported to a beautiful otherworldly paradise, populated exclusively by men who look like his wife's lover, and women who look like his wife. Further compounding the confusion, a crazy woman wanders into the theater looking for someone no one there knows, whom she calls Liu Zi-ji, who may or may not exist and may or may not be missing. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide