Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
Golden Lion
The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguis ...
at the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
in 1989 for his film '' A City of Sadness'' (1989), and the Best Director award at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
in 2015 for '' The Assassin'' (2015). Other highly regarded works of his include '' The Puppetmaster'' (1993) and '' Flowers of Shanghai'' (1998).
Hou was voted "Director of the Decade" for the 1990s in a poll of American and international critics by ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
'' and '' Film Comment''. In a 1998 New York Film Festival worldwide critics' poll, Hou was named "one of the three directors most crucial to the future of cinema." ''A City of Sadness'' ranked 117th in the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's 2012 '' Sight & Sound'' critics' poll of the greatest films ever made. In 2017,
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
ranked Hsiao-hsien 16th on its list of the 25 best film directors of the 21st century.
Life and career
Hou Hsiao-hsien was born in
Meixian District
Meixian (, Hakka: Moiyen), formerly Meihsien, is a district of Meizhou City, in northeastern Guangdong Province, China. The county is an important Hakka settlement and is the ancestral home of many Hakka descendants living in Taiwan.
History ...
,
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...
in 1947 to a
Hakka
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...
family. Later that same year, Hou's father took a job as Head Secretary for the Mayor of
Taichung
Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of T ...
City. The rest of the family joined him in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
the following year and in 1949 he was made Supervisor of the Taipei Educational Bureau. Hou was educated at the National Taiwan Academy of the Arts.
Internationally, Hou is known for his austere and aesthetically rigorous dramas dealing with the upheavals of Taiwanese (and occasionally larger Chinese) history of the past century by viewing its impacts on individuals or small groups of characters. '' A City of Sadness'' (1989), for example, portrays a family caught in conflicts between the local Taiwanese and the newly arrived
Chinese Nationalist
Chinese nationalism () is a form of nationalism in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China) and the Republic of China on Taiwan which asserts that the Chinese people are a nation and promotes the cultural and national unity of all Chi ...
government after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. It was groundbreaking for broaching the long-taboo February 28 Incident and ensuing White Terror. It became a major critical and commercial success, and garnered the
Golden Lion
The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguis ...
award at the 1989
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
, making it the first Taiwanese film to win the top prize at the prestigious international film festival.
His storytelling is elliptical and his style marked by extreme long takes with minimal camera movement but intricate choreography of actors and space within the frame. He uses extensive improvisation to arrive at the final shape of his scenes and the low-key, naturalistic acting of his performers. His compositions are decentered, and links between shots do not adhere to an obvious temporal or causal narrative logic. Without abandoning his famous austerity, his imagery has developed a sensual beauty during the 1990s, partly under the influence of his collaboration with cinematographer Mark Lee Ping-Bin. Hou's consistent screenwriting collaborator since the mid-1980s has been the renowned author
Chu T’ien-wen
Chu or CHU may refer to:
Chinese history
* Chu (state) (c. 1030 BC–223 BC), a state during the Zhou dynasty
* Western Chu (206 BC–202 BC), a state founded and ruled by Xiang Yu
* Chu Kingdom (Han dynasty) (201 BC–70 AD), a kingdom of the H ...
, a collaboration that began with the screenplay for
Chen Kunhou
Chen Kun-hou (born 25 July 1939 in Taichū, Japanese Formosa) is a Taiwanese film director and cinematographer. He is known for his film '' Growing Up'' (1983), one of the films that initiated the Taiwan New Cinema movement. Chen was also the cin ...
's 1983 film, '' Growing Up''. He has also cast revered puppeteer Li Tian-lu as an actor in several of his movies, most notably '' The Puppetmaster'' (1993), which is based on Li's life.
Hou's films have been awarded top prizes from prestigious international festivals such as the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
,
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
Nantes Three Continents Festival
The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Palme d'Or'' (best film award) at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
. Hou was voted "Director of the Decade" for the 1990s in a poll of American and international critics put together by ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the cr ...
'' and '' Film Comment''.
He contributed two songs to the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...
of ''
Dust of Angels
''Dust of Angels'' () is a 1992 Taiwanese crime film directed by Hsu Hsiao-ming, executive produced by Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien. It was entered into Directors' Fortnight at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. "''An lah''" () is a Taiwan ...
'', a film he produced.
He directed the Japanese film ''
Café Lumière
is a 2003 Japanese film directed by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien for Shochiku as homage to Yasujirō Ozu, with direct reference to the late director's ''Tokyo Story'' (1953). It premiered at a festival commemorating the centenary of Ozu's b ...
'' (2003) for the
Shochiku
() is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not al ...
studio as an homage to Yasujirō Ozu; the film premiered at a festival commemorating the centenary of Ozu's birth. The film deals with themes reminiscent of Ozu—tensions between parents and children and between tradition and modernity—in Hou's typically indirect manner. His 2005 film '' Three Times'' features three stories of love set in 1911, 1966 and 2005 using the same actors,
Shu Qi
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, death_place =
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and Chang Chen.
In August 2006, Hou embarked on his first Western project. Filmed and financed entirely in France, '' Flight of the Red Balloon'' (2007) is the story of a French family as seen through the eyes of a Chinese student. The film is the first part in a series of films sponsored by the Musée d'Orsay and stars
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer.
She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...
. In 2010, Hou directed the 3D short film for the
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
Pavilion at the Expo 2010 Shanghai China.
Hou has also had some acting experience, appearing as the lead in fellow Taiwanese New Wave auteur
Edward Yang
Edward Yang (; November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007) was a Taiwanese filmmaker. Yang, along with fellow auteurs Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, was one of the leading film-makers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese cinema. He won the ...
's 1984 film ''
Taipei Story
''Taipei Story'' is a 1985 Taiwanese film directed, scored, and co-written by Edward Yang — his second full-length feature film and third overall. The film stars Yang's fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien and singer Tsai Chin (singer), Tsai Chin, w ...
''. He starred as Lung, a former minor league baseball star who is stuck operating an old-style fabric business, longing for his past days of glory. Lung becomes alienated from his girlfriend and tries to find his way in Taipei. Hou also had a small role in the 2013 Chinese comedy-drama film ''Young Style'', about a group of teenagers in high school.
In 2015, Hou won the Best Director award at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
To date, Hou has directed a total of 18 feature films, and three short film segments of omnibus films, which leads to a total 21 films he directed. Out of the 21 films he has directed, he has written or co-written 11 of those films in addition to writing or co-writing 10 other films directed by other filmmakers, including ''
Taipei Story
''Taipei Story'' is a 1985 Taiwanese film directed, scored, and co-written by Edward Yang — his second full-length feature film and third overall. The film stars Yang's fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien and singer Tsai Chin (singer), Tsai Chin, w ...
'' (1985) (Dir.
Edward Yang
Edward Yang (; November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007) was a Taiwanese filmmaker. Yang, along with fellow auteurs Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, was one of the leading film-makers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese cinema. He won the ...
), '' Heartbreak Island'' (1995) (Dir. Hsiao-ming Hsu) and ''My Favorite Season'' (1985) (Dir. Kun Hao Chen).
Feature films
Hou has directed a total of 18 feature films, of which he has written 11.
''Cute Girl'' (1980)
Hou's first film as a director, as well as writer, was '' Cute Girl'' (1980) or ''Lovable You'', a relatively formulaic romantic comedy (prevalent in Taiwan at the time) starring Kenny Bee, Anthony Chan and Feng Fei-fei. The film was primarily devised as a vehicle for Bee and Feng, who were popular pop-stars in Hong Kong and Taiwan, respectively, at the time. Hou would later collaborate with both Bee and Fong later on in his next feature film, ''Cheerful Wind'' (1981). Although the film was shot in a more commercial style unlike his later work, film critic and writer David Bordwell stated that ''Cute Girl'' and the rest of Hou's early films "show oudeveloping, in almost casual ways, techniques of staging and shooting that will become his artistic hallmarks."
''Cheerful Wind'' (1981)
The second feature film that Hou both wrote and directed was ''Cheerful Wind'' (1981) (Feng er ti ta cai), which teamed him up again with the trio of leads from '' Cute Girl'', Kenny Bee, Feng Fei-fei and Anthony Chan.
''The Green, Green Grass of Home'' (1982)
Hou's third feature film which he both directed and wrote was ' (1982) (Zai na he pan qing cao qing), which also starred Kenny Bee from his previous two films but also a set of new actors that Hou previously did not work with before, including child actor (at the time) Chou Pin-chun, who won a Best Child Star award from the 1982 Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards for his performance in the film. The film was also nominated for Best Film, Best Director and another Best Child Star award (for actor Cheng Chuan-wen) at the 1982 Golden Horse Film Festival as well.
''The Boys from Fengkuei'' (1983)
As his fourth feature film, ''
The Boys from Fengkuei
''The Boys from Fengkuei'' (also known as ''All the Youthful Days'') () is a 1983 film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien.
Synopsis
Ah-ching (Doze Niu) and his friends have just finished school in their island fishing village, Fengkuei, and now spend m ...
'' (1983) featured the beginnings of what Hou would later consider tenets of his cinematic style, which include more of a naturalistic style and focusing more on youth and provincial/rural life. The film starred now-director Doze Niu as Ah-Ching, as a member of a gang of young boys who have finished school in their island fishing village of Fengkuei and spend most of their days fighting and drinking. They decide to go to the port city of
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City ( Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Ka ...
to look for work, where Ah-Ching falls in love with a girlfriend of a neighbor. The film is also about how the teenagers face the realities of urban life as they come of age. The film won the
Golden Montgolfiere
The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Nantes Three Continents Festival
The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Golden Horse Film Festival.
The "Coming of Age" Trilogy (1984-1987)
Hou's "Coming of Age" trilogy includes the three films: ''
A Summer at Grandpa's
''A Summer at Grandpa's'' () is a 1984 Taiwanese coming-of-age family drama directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien and co-written with Hou by Chu Tʽien-wen. The film tells the semi-autobiographical exploits of a young brother and sister who spend a pivota ...
Daughter of the Nile
''Daughter of the Nile'' () is a 1987 film by Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien.
Background
The film's title is a reference to a character in a manga called ''Crest of the Royal Family'' who is hailed as Daughter of the Nile. The film is a ...
'' (1987).
''A Summer at Grandpa's'' (1984)
Hou's fifth feature film was ''
A Summer at Grandpa's
''A Summer at Grandpa's'' () is a 1984 Taiwanese coming-of-age family drama directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien and co-written with Hou by Chu Tʽien-wen. The film tells the semi-autobiographical exploits of a young brother and sister who spend a pivota ...
'' (1984), which won a Best Director award for Hou at the 1984
Asia-Pacific Film Festival
The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific. The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954.
History
The festival was first held in T ...
and the
Golden Montgolfiere
The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Nantes Three Continents Festival
The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Locarno International Film Festival
The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...
. The film was also nominated for a Best Child Star (Chi-Kuang Wang) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Chu T’ien-wen) at the 1984 Golden Horse Film Festival. The film also starred fellow New Taiwanese filmmaker
Edward Yang
Edward Yang (; November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007) was a Taiwanese filmmaker. Yang, along with fellow auteurs Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, was one of the leading film-makers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese cinema. He won the ...
in a brief role, with Yang returning the favor by casting Hou in his film ''
Taipei Story
''Taipei Story'' is a 1985 Taiwanese film directed, scored, and co-written by Edward Yang — his second full-length feature film and third overall. The film stars Yang's fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien and singer Tsai Chin (singer), Tsai Chin, w ...
'' (1985).
''A Time to Live, A Time to Die'' (1985)
As his sixth feature film, '' A Time to Live, A Time to Die'' (1985) (also known as ''The Time to Live and the Time to Die'', ) was perhaps Hou's first internationally successful film, winning a grand total of 8 awards from film festivals all over the world: a Special Jury Award at the 1985
Asia-Pacific Film Festival
The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific. The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954.
History
The festival was first held in T ...
Hou's seventh feature film was '' Dust in the Wind'' (1986), which won a Kinema Junpo Award for Best Foreign Language Film Director at the 1990 Kinema Junpo Awards (shared also with his previous film, ''A Time to Live, A Time to Die''), and Best Cinematography Mark Lee Ping Bin and Best Score (Hou Hsiao-hsien) at the 1987
Nantes Three Continents Festival
The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Jack Kao) who is involved in crime and gangs. The title is also a reference to a character in the Japanese manga ''
Crest of the Royal Family
is a shōjo manga by Chieko Hosokawa. It has run in the monthly magazine ''Princess'' since 1976. In 1991, it received the 36th Shogakukan Manga Award for shōjo. As of 2015, the collected volumes had sold 40 million copies in Japan, makin ...
'' who is referred to as the "Daughter of the Nile." The film won a Best Original Film Score award (Hung-yi Chang) at the 1987 Golden Horse Film Festival and also a Special Jury Prize in the International Feature Film Competition at the 1987 Torino International Festival of Young Cinema.
''A City of Sadness'' (1989)
Hou's ninth feature film was almost universally acclaimed by film critics as a masterpiece upon its release. It has the distinction of being the first ever Taiwanese film to win the prestigious
Golden Lion
The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguis ...
award at the 1989
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
, where Hou also won a Special Golden Ciak award ("For artistic originality and sensitivity") and a
UNESCO Award Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) awards ''The Cultural Diversity Award under the patronage of UNESCO'' annually to a film practitioner and film from the region for their exceptional contribution for upholding and promoting the cultural diversity th ...
. It is also the very first film to openly deal with the authoritarian rule of the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Ta ...
(KMT) after taking Taiwan over from the Japanese in 1945 following WWII, and the tragic February 28 Incident (1947), where thousands of Taiwanese citizens were killed. In the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's 2012 Sight & Sound poll, 2 directors and 14 film critics named it one of "the greatest films ever made", ranking #322 in the directors' poll and #117 in the critics' poll. The film was also Taiwan's Best Foreign Language Film entry for the 62nd Academy Awards, but it did not make the final nomination shortlist.
Starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as the deaf-mute but all-seeing Wen-ching and his older brother Wen-leung ( Jack Kao), the film dealt with political subject matter involving the February 28 Incident and the " White Terror" era where countless Taiwanese citizens were incarcerated and shot by the KMT government in the late 1940s after their displacement from China to Taiwan after the Civil War of 1949.
The film also won Best Director and Best Leading Actor (Sung Young Chen) awards at the 1989 Golden Horse Film Festival, where it was also nominated for Best Feature Film, Best Original Screenplay (Chu T’ien-wen and Hou Hsiao-hsien), Best Film Editing (Ching-Song Liao), Best Cinematography (Huai-en Chen) and Best Sound Recording (Duu-Chih Tu and Ching-an Yang) awards. The film won a Kinema Junpo Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1991 Kinema Junpo Awards, a Best Foreign Language Film award at the 1991 Mainichi Film Concours, and a Special Award from the USA Political Film Society in 1990. It was also nominated for a Best Foreign Film award at the 1991
Independent Spirit Awards
The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic gla ...
.
''The Puppetmaster'' (1993)
Hou's tenth film was '' The Puppetmaster'' (1993), a sprawling half-documentary, half-narrative film hybrid that told the story of Li Tian-lu, the most celebrated puppeteer in Taiwan. The film won the Jury Prize at the 1993
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or.IMDb, The Puppetmaster - Awards & Nominations, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107157/awards?ref_=tt_awd The film was also another masterpiece listed in the 2012
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
Ghent International Film Festival
Film Fest Ghent, spelt Film Fest Gent in Flemish and also known as International Film Fest Gent, is an annual international film festival in Ghent, Belgium. The festival held its first edition in 1974, under the name Internationaal Filmgebeure ...
, the Distribution Help Award at the 1994 Fribourg International Film Festival (tying with '' Kosh ba kosh'' (1993)), and Best Cinematography ( Ping Bin Lee), Best Makeup & Costume Design (Pei-yun Juan and Kuang-Hui Chang), and Best Sound Effects (Duu-Chih Tu) at the 1993 Golden Horse Film Festival, where it was also nominated for Best Feature Film, Best Art Direction (Hung Chang, Hsien-Ko Ho, Ming-Ching Lu, and Chao-yi Tsai) and Best Original Film Score (Ming-chang Chen).
The Urban Youth Trilogy (1995-2001)
Hou's "Urban Youth Trilogy" includes the three films: ''
Good Men, Good Women
''Good Men, Good Women'' () is a 1995 Taiwanese film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, starring Annie Yi, Lim Giong, and Jack Kao. It is the last installment in the trilogy that began with ''A City of Sadness'' (1989) and continued with '' The Puppetma ...
'' (1995), ''
Goodbye South, Goodbye
''Goodbye South, Goodbye'' is a 1996 crime drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. The film had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 12 May 1996.
Plot
Gao (Jack Kao) rides the train to Pinghsi to set up a 10-day gambling den with his frie ...
'' (1996), and ''
Millennium Mambo
''Millennium Mambo'' () is a 2001 Taiwanese romantic drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien.
Plot
The main character, Vicky, portrayed by actress Shu Qi, narrates from 2011 about her life 10 years earlier. She describes her youth and story of he ...
'' (2001).
''Good Men, Good Women'' (1995)
Hou's eleventh film was a post-modern time-jumping and fourth-wall breaking narrative that jumped between the modern-day life of an actress named Liang Ching (played by Annie Shizukah Inoh) and the historical role of Chiang Bi-Yu, who she was portraying in a 1940s period piece film. Jack Kao also appeared as her boyfriend, Ah-Wei. The film was nominated and in competition for the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 1995
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
, and won Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay (Chu T’ien-wen) and Best Sound Recording (Duu-Chih Tu) at the 1995 Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, where it was also nominated for Best Feature Film, Best Leading Actress ( Inoh) and Best Film Editing (Ching-Song Liao) awards.
The film also won Best Director and Best Art Direction (Hsien-Ko Ho, Wen-Ying Huang and Ming-Ching Lu) awards at the 1996
Asia-Pacific Film Festival
The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific. The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954.
History
The festival was first held in T ...
, Golden Deer awards for Best Director and Best Film at the 1996 Changchun Film Festival, a Special Jury Award from the 1996 Fribourg International Film Festival, the Golden Maile award for Best Narrative Feature at the 1995 Hawaii International Film Festival, and a FIPRESCI/NETPAC Award (tied with ''Hkhagoroloi Bohu Door'' (1995)) and a Special Achievement Award at the 1996
Singapore International Film Festival
The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) (Chinese: 新加坡国际电影节) is the longest-running film festival in Singapore. Founded in 1987, the festival has a focus on showcasing international films and providing a global platform fo ...
. The film was also nominated for the Gold Hugo award for Best Feature at the 1995
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...
.
''Goodbye South, Goodbye'' (1996)
''
Goodbye South, Goodbye
''Goodbye South, Goodbye'' is a 1996 crime drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. The film had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 12 May 1996.
Plot
Gao (Jack Kao) rides the train to Pinghsi to set up a 10-day gambling den with his frie ...
'', Hou's twelfth film, was set in rural Taiwan and concerned the lives of Taipei petty criminals played by Giong Lim, Shih-huang Chen, Vicky Wei, Jack Kao, Annie Shizukah Inoh (the latter two actors who Hou reunited with from ''
Good Men, Good Women
''Good Men, Good Women'' () is a 1995 Taiwanese film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, starring Annie Yi, Lim Giong, and Jack Kao. It is the last installment in the trilogy that began with ''A City of Sadness'' (1989) and continued with '' The Puppetma ...
'' (1995)). The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1996
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
Hou's thirteenth film, '' Flowers of Shanghai'' (1998), would see him reunite with actor Tony Leung Chiu-Wai from ''A City of Sadness'' as well as Jack Kao, and was a period piece set in the elegant brothels (also known as "flower houses") of 1880s
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...
. The screenplay was written and translated by acclaimed novelist Eileen Chang, along with frequent Hou screenwriter collaborator Chu T’ien-wen, based on a novel by Bangqin Han. The film also starred
Carina Lau
Carina Lau Kar-ling (, born 8 December 1966) is a Hong Kong-Canadian actress and singer. She started her acting career in TVB, before going on to achieve success in films after 2nd year at the college. She was notable in the 1980s for her girl-ne ...
, Michiko Hada, Vicky Wei, Annie Shizukah Inoh, Rebecca Pan and Ming Hsu.
The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 1998
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
and also won Best Director and Best Art Director (Wen-Ying Huang) at the 1998
Asia-Pacific Film Festival
The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific. The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954.
History
The festival was first held in T ...
, the Golden Crow Pheasant award at the 1999 International Film Festival of Kerala, as well as a Jury Award and a Best Art Direction award (Wen-Ying Huang and Chih-Wei Tsao) at the 1998 Golden Horse Film Festival, where it was also nominated for Best Feature, Best Director and Best Makeup & Costume Design (Wen-Ying Huang, Shu-Chen Liao and Bu-Hai Shen).
''Millennium Mambo'' (2001)
''
Millennium Mambo
''Millennium Mambo'' () is a 2001 Taiwanese romantic drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien.
Plot
The main character, Vicky, portrayed by actress Shu Qi, narrates from 2011 about her life 10 years earlier. She describes her youth and story of he ...
'' (2001) was Hou's fourteenth film and the film that marked his first collaboration with actress
Shu Qi
use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
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, who would later go on to appear in three other of Hou's later films and become his muse. The film follows Shu as a character named Vicky, who looks back ten years to 2000 when she was in a relationship with Hao-Hao (Chun-hao Tuan) where she is now in a relationship with Jack ( Jack Kao). The film's free-wheeling style, cinematography and sound design was praised by critics, and also garnered the Technical Grand Prize for the film's sound designer/mixer/director Duu-Chih Tu at the 2001
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
, where it was also nominated for a Palme d'Or award. The film also won Best Cinematography ( Ping Bin Lee), Best Sound Effects (Duu-Chih Tu) and Best Original Film Score (Kai-yu Huang and Giong Lim) at the 2001 Golden Horse Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best Leading Actress (Shu Qi) and Best Original Film Song (composer/lyricist/performer Giong Lim, for the song "Fly to the Sky").
For the film, Hou also won the Silver Hugo award at the 2001
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...
, and a Best Director award as well as a Grand Prix award at the 2001
Ghent International Film Festival
Film Fest Ghent, spelt Film Fest Gent in Flemish and also known as International Film Fest Gent, is an annual international film festival in Ghent, Belgium. The festival held its first edition in 1974, under the name Internationaal Filmgebeure ...
. The film was also nominated for a Best Actress (Hong Kong/Taiwan) award at the 2002 Chinese Media Film Awards, a Screen International Award at the 2001 European Film Awards, and the Golden Maile award at the 2001 Hawaii International Film Festival.
''Café Lumière'' (2003)
Hou's fifteenth feature film - ''
Café Lumière
is a 2003 Japanese film directed by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien for Shochiku as homage to Yasujirō Ozu, with direct reference to the late director's ''Tokyo Story'' (1953). It premiered at a festival commemorating the centenary of Ozu's b ...
'' (2003) (alternate title: "Kôhî jikô") - was a self-acknowledged homage to the cinema of legendary Japanese filmmaker Yasujirō Ozu, who Hou considers a major influence on his own work. Set in Tokyo for the most part, the film starred Japanese pop singer Yo Hitoto as Yōko in her acting debut (who won the "Newcomer of the Year" award at the 2005
Awards of the Japanese Academy
The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...
for her performance) as well as renown Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano as Hajime Takeuchi. The film won the Golden Tulip award at the 2005 Istanbul International Film Festival, and was also nominated for the Golden Lion award at the 2004
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
and a "Best Film Not in the English Language" award at the 2004 International Cinephile Society (ICS) Awards.
''Three Times'' (2005)
'' Three Times'' would mark Hou's second collaboration with actress
Shu Qi
use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
, death_place =
, death_cause =
, body_discovered =
, resting_place =
, resting_place_coordinate ...
and first collaboration with actor Chang Chen. It is also his sixteenth film, and weaves together three separate stories that describe the relationship of a couple played by Shu and Chang during three separate time periods: (1) "A Time for Love" set in 1966
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City ( Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Ka ...
; (2) "A Time for Freedom" set in 1911 Dadaocheng; and (3) "A Time for Youth" set in 2005
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
.
The film was also nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2005
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
and at the 2005 Golden Horse Film Festival, the film won Best Actress (Shu Qi), Best Taiwanese Film of the Year and Best Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year awards, while being nominated for Best Feature Film, Best Director, Best Leading Actor (Chang Chen), Best Original Screenplay (Chu T’ien-wen and Hou Hsiao-hsien), Best Cinematography ( Ping Bin Lee), Best Art Direction (Wen-Ying Huang), Best Makeup & Costume Design (Wen-Ying Huang, Shu-Chen Liao and Gin Oy), and Best Film Editing (Ching-Song Liao and Ju-kuan Hsiao) awards.IMDb, Three Times - Awards & Nominations, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0459666/awards?ref_=tt_awd The film also won the Grand Prix / Golden Apricot award for Best Film at the 2006 Yerevan International Film Festival, a Jury Prize from the 2005 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, where it was also nominated for the Grand Prize. Finally, the film was also nominated for a Best Asian Film award from the 2006 Hong Kong Film Awards and a Best Foreign Language Film award from the 2006 St. Louis Film Critics Association Awards. In an Indiewire Critics' Poll taken in 2006 for Best Film of the Year, the film was ranked in 6th place.
''Flight of the Red Balloon'' (2007)
Hou's seventeenth film and first "foreign language" film (which featured dialogue in both French and Mandarin) was '' Flight of the Red Balloon'' (2007) (French: "Le voyage du ballon rouge"), which starred acclaimed French actress
Juliette Binoche
Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress and dancer.
She has appeared in more than sixty feature films and has been the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Silver Bear, ...
, Hippolyte Girardot, Fang Song and others. The film was nominated for the Un Certain Regard award at the 2007
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics (NSFC) is an American film critic organization. The organization is known for its highbrow tastes, and its annual awards are one of the most prestigious film critics awards in the United States. In January 2014, ...
.
Furthermore, the film won Best Film and Best Director awards in an
Indiewire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
Critics' Poll taken in 2008, which ranked Binoche's performance in the film the 5th best one of that year and in a Village Voice Film Poll taken the same year, the film won 2nd place for Best Film and 3rd place for Best Actress (Binoche). In addition, ''Flight of the Red Balloon'' won 3rd place in the 2009 International Cinephile Society (ICS) Awards for the "Best Film Not in the English Language" award, and the ICS also nominated the film for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Binoche), Best Adapted Screenplay (Hou Hsiao-hsien and Francois Margolin) and Best Cinematography ( Ping Bin Lee) awards. The film was also nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film (France)by the Online Film & Television Association in 2009.
''The Assassin'' (2015)
'' The Assassin'' (2015) was Hou's eighteenth feature film and garnered him the Best Director award at the 2015
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
, where composer Giong Lim also won the Cannes Soundtrack Award. The film also swept the 2015 Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, winning a grand total of five awards: Best Director, Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography ( Ping Bin Lee), Best Makeup & Costume Design (Wen-Ying Huang), and Best Sound Effects (Duu-Chih Tu, Shih Yi Chu, Shu-yao Wu).> The film was also nominated for 5 additional Golden Horse awards: Best Leading Actress (Shi Qu), Best Adapted Screenplay (Cheng Ah, Chu T’ien-wen and Hai-Meng Hsieh), Best Art Direction (Wen-Ying Huang), Best Original Film Score (Giong Lim) and Best Film Editing (Ching-Song Liao). The film was also nominated for a BAFTA Award for "Best Foreign Language Film", but lost to '' Wild Tales''.
''The Assassin'' also won a Best Foreign Language Film award from the 2015 Florida Film Critics Circle Awards, a "Best Film Not in the English Language" award from the Online Film Critics Society (where it was also nominated for a Best Cinematography award for DP Ping Bin Lee), and a Best Foreign Language film award from the Vancouver Film Critics Circle in 2016. The film also won 2nd place for a Best Foreign Language Film award from the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association in 2015, 3rd place in a 2015
indieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...
Critics' Poll for Best Director and Best Cinematography ( Ping Bin Lee), where it also received an 8th place for Best Film and a 9th place for Best Editing (Chih-Chia Huang), and 2nd place for a Best Foreign Language Film Award from the Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards in 2015.
In addition, the film was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film award from the 2016
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award
The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American-Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Writt ...
s, a Best Foreign Language Film award from the Central Ohio Film Critics Association in 2016, a Best Foreign Language Film award from the Houston Film Critics Society in 2016, a Best Foreign Language Film award from the North Carolina Film Critics Association in 2016, and Best Motion Picture (International Film) award and won the Best Costume Design award from the Satellite Awards in 2015.
''The Assassin'' was also nominated for a Best Art Direction/Production Design award and a Best Foreign Language Film award from the Chicago Film Critics Association in 2015, an Art Cinema award from the 2015 Hamburg Film Festival, a Best Foreign Film award from the Kansas City Film Critics Circle in 2015, a Best International Film award from the Phoenix Critics Circle in 2015, a Best Cinematography ( Ping Bin Lee) and Best Foreign Language Film from the San Francisco Film Critics Circle in 2015, a Best Foreign Language Film award from the St. Louis Film Critics Association in 2015, a Best Foreign Language Film award from the Toronto Film Critics Association in 2016, and a Best Foreign Language Film award from the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association in 2015.
The film was also Taiwan's official entry as
Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
Hou has directed a total of three short film segments in omnibus or anthology films.
''The Sandwich Man'' (1983)
In 1983, Hou directed a short film segment in the omnibus film '' The Sandwich Man'' (1983) (the title segment, also entitled ''The Sandwich Man'') which also featured segments directed by Wan Jen and Zhuang Xiang Zeng entitled ''The Taste of Apples'' and ''Vicki's Hat''. The screenplay for all three segments was written by Wu Nien-jen, and ''The Sandwich Man'' segment is based on a short story by writer/novelist
Huang Chunming
Huang Chun-ming (; born 13 February 1935) is a Taiwanese literary figure and teacher. Huang writes mainly about the tragic and sometimes humorous lives of ordinary Taiwanese people, and many of his short stories have been turned into films, inc ...
entitled '' "His Son's Big Doll"'' (or ''Puppet''), whereas ''The Taste of Apples'' segment is based on a short story of the same name and ''Vicki's Hat'' is based on '' Xiaoqi's Cap'', all also by Huang. The film was an omnibus film that followed a similar omnibus film done a year earlier, ''In Our Time'' (1982), which featured short films directed and written by other Taiwanese filmmakers
Edward Yang
Edward Yang (; November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007) was a Taiwanese filmmaker. Yang, along with fellow auteurs Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, was one of the leading film-makers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese cinema. He won the ...
, Yi Chang, , and Chao Te-chen. The film was also nominated for three awards at the 1983 Golden Horse Film Festival: Best Supporting Actor ( Chen Bor-jeng who appeared in Hou's segment ''The Sandwich Man''), Best Child Star (Ching-Kuo Yan - who appeared in the ''Taste of Apples'' segment), and Best Adapted Screenplay ( Wu Nien-jen).
''To Each His Own Cinema'' (2007)
Hou directed the short film segment "The Electric Princess House" in the omnibus film ''
To Each His Own Cinema
''To Each His Own Cinema'' (french: link=no, Chacun son cinéma : une déclaration d'amour au grand écran) is a 2007 French comedy-drama anthology film commissioned for the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival. The film is a collection of ...
Hou also directed, and appeared as a presenter in, the short film segment "La Belle Epoque" of the seminal Taiwanese cinema omnibus/anthology film ' (2011). The segment starred
Shu Qi
use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) -->
, death_place =
, death_cause =
, body_discovered =
, resting_place =
, resting_place_coordinate ...
and Fang Mei.
Writing
Hou has written 21 films in total, 8 of which he also directed (''The Assassin'', ''Flight of the Red Balloon'', ''Three Times'', ''Café Lumière'', ''A Time to Live, a Time to Die'', ''A Summer at Grandpa's'', ''Cute Girl'', and ''The Green, Green Grass of Home''). Most notably, Hou was one of the co-writers, along with Chu T’ien-wen and
Edward Yang
Edward Yang (; November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007) was a Taiwanese filmmaker. Yang, along with fellow auteurs Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, was one of the leading film-makers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese cinema. He won the ...
on Yang's film ''
Taipei Story
''Taipei Story'' is a 1985 Taiwanese film directed, scored, and co-written by Edward Yang — his second full-length feature film and third overall. The film stars Yang's fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien and singer Tsai Chin (singer), Tsai Chin, w ...
'' (1985), which Hou also starred in as the main character and protagonist, Lung.
Producing
Hou has produced 14 films - meaning serving as a producer or executive producer on a project - and the only film he both produced and directed is '' The Assassin'' (2015). Among the notable films that he has served as an executive producer on include Chi Po-lin's '' Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above'' (2013) - winner of the Best Documentary award at the 2013 Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, Wu Nien-jen's '' A Borrowed Life'' (''Duo Sang'') (1994) (winner of the Grand Prize at The Torino Film Festival in Italy, the Best Actor and The International Critics Award at The Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece and one of Martin Scorsese's top/favorite/best films of the 1990s decade) and Zhang Yimou's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar-Nominated ''
Raise The Red Lantern
''Raise the Red Lantern'' is a 1991 film directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Gong Li. It is an adaptation by of the 1990 novella '' Raise the Red Lantern'' (originally ''Wives and Concubines'') by Su Tong. The film was later adapted into an ...
'' (1991).
Acting
Hou has acted in four films, including starring as the main character "Lung" in fellow Taiwanese New Wave auteur
Edward Yang
Edward Yang (; November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007) was a Taiwanese filmmaker. Yang, along with fellow auteurs Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, was one of the leading film-makers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese cinema. He won the ...
's ''
Taipei Story
''Taipei Story'' is a 1985 Taiwanese film directed, scored, and co-written by Edward Yang — his second full-length feature film and third overall. The film stars Yang's fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien and singer Tsai Chin (singer), Tsai Chin, w ...
'' (1985), which was perhaps Yang trying to return the favor for Hou casting him in his film ''
A Summer at Grandpa's
''A Summer at Grandpa's'' () is a 1984 Taiwanese coming-of-age family drama directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien and co-written with Hou by Chu Tʽien-wen. The film tells the semi-autobiographical exploits of a young brother and sister who spend a pivota ...
'' (1984). Prior to that appearance, Hou appeared in another fellow Taiwanese New Wave filmmaker's film, ''I Love Mary'' (1984). In 1986, Hou played the character "Boy-Boy" in Kei Shu's ''Lao Niang Gou Sao'' (1986) and in 2013, Hou appeared as an older parental figure in Jie Liu's high school comedy, ''Young Style'' (2013).
Other work
Hou was an assistant director on seven films, a presenter for the segment "La Belle Epoque" in the Taiwanese omnibus film ''10+10'' (2011) (which he also directed), and a script supervisor on the film ''The Heart with Million Knots'' (1973). Hou also directed a TV commercial for Nippon Shokubai Co. in 1991.
Personal life
Hou's wife is Tsao Pao-feng, who was one of the producers on Hou's film '' Flight of the Red Balloon'' (2007). Together they have one daughter named Yun-hua. Hou's father was Hou Fen-ming, who was portrayed in Hou's film ''A Time to Live, A Time to Die'' (1985) (played by Tien Feng).
Although he rarely discusses politics in public, Hou was a supporter of the now disbanded (民主行動聯盟) which advocates for
Chinese unification
Chinese unification, also known as the Cross-Strait unification or Chinese reunification, is the potential unification of territories currently controlled, or claimed, by the People's Republic of China ("China" or "Mainland China") and the ...
. Hou has stated in interview that "I was born in mainland China, so to me I will always be Chinese, no matter where I am." The Taiwanese political magazine ''New Bloom'' describes that although Hou has often been regarded as the "quintessentially Taiwanese filmmaker" in the West, his personal politics opposes how his films are interpreted by Anglophone critics.