Sad city---the country is still beautiful, but the memories are devastated

The movie starts from the year when Taiwan was restored, like an ancient scroll slowly unfolding. After fifty years of Japanese rule, the Kuomintang took over Taiwan, and life on the island changed dramatically. Keelung Port in northern Taiwan is an endless stream of ships, and the sound of steam whistles is even more continuous. Japanese people with their families are put on repatriation ships from here. At the same time, in Jiufen not far away, the Lin family also started a new life.

The eldest son of the Lin family, Lin Wenxiong, had a child born. He was a boy, and Lin Wenxiong named him Guangming. The loud cries of the newborns and the sudden lighting up of the lights heralded the end of the Japanese rule and the island of Taiwan was ushered in a new life. Taiwan is like a newborn child with a promising future. In the medical school, intern doctors are learning the treatment of various diseases. The new Taiwan will also suffer from various diseases, but the young students are willing to work hard for Taiwan's future.

Vincent, the second eldest son of the Lin family, used to run a small clinic and lived a life of isolation on the island. During the war, he was recruited by the Japanese to serve as a military doctor in Nanyang. From then on, there was no news, and he had nowhere to go. The second sister-in-law has always believed that he can come back. This belief has supported her for decades since.

As the Kuomintang took over Taiwan, life in Jiufen became lively and chaotic. The arrival of Shanghai people and people from other provinces has aroused the conflict between local people and people from other provinces to a fever pitch. The third son of the Lin family was drafted to Shanghai during the war and worked as a translator for the Japanese army. After going through all kinds of hardships, he finally escaped back to Taiwan, but he has become crazy. Finally returned to normal in the exciting "Exile Trilogy". The chaotic times dragged him into gang struggles, and he eventually became a useless person.

Wenqing, the fourth eldest son of the Lin family, fell from a tree when he was eight years old and became deaf. For the next few years, he made a living taking photos. Marrying the woman he loved and having children was supposed to be an ordinary life, but he was also arrested for sponsoring progressive people.

At this point, only two young boys, Guangming and Aqian, are left in the Lin family.

The precarious island of Taiwan has become a helpless duckweed due to changes in times and changes in political power. The people who have paid the heaviest price for this are the local people who have lived on the island for generations. Through the story of the Lin family, Hou Hsiao-hsien tells the story of the changes in Taiwan in the three years from 1945, when Taiwan was restored, to 1949, when the Kuomintang established its capital. The tragedy of the Lin family is not the epitome of the chaos in Taiwan, but it is also the groan of pain and despair for generations of Taiwanese people. The small family alludes to the helplessness and compassion of the big era. All the pain turned into a cry from the eldest son of the Lin family: "We, the islanders, are the most pitiful. We are Japanese, Chinese, everyone eats, rides, and no one hurts."

The people in power have changed the National Government, but the corruption and chaos are even worse than before. These people are not here to take over Taiwan, they want to come here to continue their crazy plundering. A series of problems such as fighting, smuggling, drug trafficking, and suppression of public opinion eventually led to the outbreak of the February 28 Incident. Taiwan's cultural circles and progressive people rose up to resist oppression, but those in power turned a blind eye to the demands of the Taiwanese people.

When Jingzi left Taiwan, she gave Kanmei a kimono and a sword. Under the tragic situation after the Kuomintang came to power, the people of this province began to miss the stability and peace during the Japanese occupation. Perhaps in our eyes, this is the victory of Japan's enslaved education. Fifty years, at least three generations, is enough to blur the memory of the past. But for people in this province, all they want is stability, nothing more.

When Kuan Rong and several other young people were chatting, they sang the inspiring "Exile Trilogy". They longed for the motherland. It's just the gap between the beautiful yearning for the motherland and the bloody facts that they can't overcome and feel speechless pain. Wenqing told Kanmei about the girl during the Meiji Restoration in Japan, saying that the cherry blossoms drifted away from the branches in the wind when they were at their most beautiful, which was actually the expectation for reform.

Everyone stubbornly believes that everything will get better.

Vincent's disappearance is due to the persecution of the war; Wenliang's desolation is caused by the conflict between the war and the current situation. The departure of the boss, Lin Wenxiong, was entirely due to the chaotic current situation. Those in power did not act, or even acted recklessly, leaving the people of this province, headed by the eldest brother, to survive under oppression. The eldest brother has been diligently playing the role of elder brother and father, supporting the family's livelihood. With the arrival of people from other provinces, morality and peace and order are no longer in the world. Only pistols are the truth.

The camera switches directly from the funeral of the eldest brother Wenxiong to the wedding of the younger brother Wenqing. It is a mixture of sorrow and joy, which is also the fate of Taiwan. Generation after generation, the city is infected with sadness, and then the deep sadness is covered up with joy. Although everything was in vain, it was the faith that supported them to go on.

There are many blank spaces in the film, which also adds a sad atmosphere to the film. The pain is so painful that it is speechless. Every short paragraph reads like a scar from history. My second favorite story in "The Most Beautiful Time" has no dialogue between the male and female protagonists. It is all blank space and text, and the emotions are clearly visible. Perhaps, this is the movie Hou Hsiao-hsien wanted to make. It was also the film "Sad City" that made Hou Hsiao-hsien, who was accustomed to starting from personal biographies, begin to pay attention to politics objectively and step into the ranks of masters in one fell swoop. The film starts with words and ends with words. Words are the most all-encompassing thing. There is no voice, no intonation, ten thousand people can read ten thousand emotions.

Another surprise in the film is the young Tony Leung, who is so warm. The Wenqing who is deaf but loves "Lorelai"; the Wenqing who is bright-eyed and protects his lover; the Wenqing who only knows photography but silently supports the progressives. His every frown and every smile are the most beautiful frames, and every stroke of his stroke writes silent sorrow. Many years later, Tony Leung acted with his eyes, was depressed to the point of depression, and had an absurd number of trophies, but he was no longer the youngest son Wen Qing who carried the Lin family's livelihood.

Taiwan was liberated in 1945---the Kuomintang established the capital in 1949.

The country and mountains are as beautiful as ever, but history turns into smoke and scatters in the sky.

Does anyone still remember that there was a Lin family on the island...

Thanks to Hou Hsiao-hsien for telling us such a chilling and heart-breaking story

In my ears again A song by Luo Dayou, "Orphans of Asia", was played, and endless sadness hit my face.