Overview
Chinese Name：牯岭街少年杀人事件
English Name：A Brighter Summer Day
Other Names: Youth Homicide Incident on Guling Street (literally)
Director: Edward Yang楊德昌
Screenwriter: Hung Hung, Lai Ming-tang, Edward Yang, Alex Yang, Yan Hong-ya
Starring: Chang Chen张震，Lisa Yang，Chang Kuo-Chu，Elaine Jin金燕玲，Wang Chuan，Chang Han
Release Year：1991（Taiwan）
Running time : 237min
Brief Introduction of A Brighter Summer Day
A Bright Summer Day is a film adapted from the real murder of teenagers in Taiwan. The film is directed by Yang Dechang and starred Zhang Zhen, Yang Jingyi, Zhang Guozhu, and Jin Yanling.
The story tells the story of a homicide in Taiwan in the early 1960s.
The film was released in Taiwan on July 27, 1991.
other movies only released in Taiwan, China: A City of Sadness 悲情城市（1989）
Plot of A Brighter Summer Day
In Taiwan in the early 1960s, it seemed that everything was gray, and there was a dark smell in the turbid air. The mood of loss and despair shrouded the city. People from other provinces from all directions speak their strong accents, Shandong dialect, Shanghai dialect, Subei dialect, Sichuan dialect… wandering around the city. The families who fled to Taiwan with the army formed small villages called “dependents’ villages”. In such a city lived Xiao Si, Xiao Ming, Xiao Ma, Lao Er, kitten king, plane, slippery head, Xiao Hu and Xiao Cui. They grew up and came out in gangs. The “small park Gang” and “217 dependents’ village Gang” gradually became irreconcilable opponents.
In Taipei, the fourth-grade boy in the night Department of Jianguo middle school is a good student outside the school Gang confrontation. His father is a law-abiding civil servant and his mother is a substitute in primary school. He moved to Taipei from the mainland in 1949.
There are five children in the family. The eldest sister wants to give up her wish to go abroad to help her parents bear the burden of the family, but her mother doesn’t agree; The second brother is as silent as the fourth; The third sister is a devout Christian, humble and patient; Zhang Zhen is the fourth in the family, so he is called the fourth in the family; The youngest sister in the family is a fast-growing girl.
Xiao Si and Xiao Ming, a girl with unfortunate family backgrounds, are very congenial and have feelings secretly. Hani, the boss of “little park Gang”, is also attracted to Xiao Ming. Xiao Ming’s father died early, and her mother placed all her hopes on her. She matured prematurely and dealt with several boys at the same time.
In the math exam, my father went to the school to negotiate because of slick plagiarism, but finally had a dispute with the school leader because he was dissatisfied with the bureaucratic tone of the school leader, and the fourth grade was recorded as a major demerit. Hani returned to Taipei and asked Xiao Si to take good care of Xiao Ming.
Due to the disputes between gangs, Hani went to fight against the “dependents’ village Gang” alone but was pushed under the wheel of the car by the other party’s boss Shandong. Xiao Si participated in the encirclement and suppression of the “dependents’ village Gang” to avenge Hani, and Shandong was killed. Xiao Si’s father was suspected of politics, forced to write confessions and dismissed, persecuted and almost neurotic; Mother was implicated and dismissed from teaching. Primary four was ordered to drop out of school because of the collision with the school and was ready to study hard for the day shift students in the exam department.
Xiao Ming’s mother goes to Ma commander’s house to help. Ma commander’s son, Xiao Ma, is a friend of Xiao Si. He is a precocious but righteous young man. Xiao Ming lives in his house because of his mother. The events at home and school made Xiao Si unbearable. He felt that Xiao Ming had changed, and the communication between Xiao Ming and Xiao Ma plunged Xiao Si into the contradiction of friendship and love. He quarreled with Xiao Ma. In the old book market on Guling street, Xiao Si saw Xiao Ming and showed her his love again, but Xiao Ming flatly refused.
Out of control, Xiaosi stabbed Xiaoming seven times in succession, and Xiaoming died on the spot. Xiao Si was arrested and sentenced to death in the first instance. Since this was the first juvenile homicide case after the Kuomintang authorities moved to Taiwan, after disputes from all walks of life, the Taiwan High Court tried it for 15 years’ imprisonment.
Accolades of A Brighter Summer Day
The film received much critical acclaim and was awarded several wins in Golden Horse Film Festival, Asia Pacific Film Festival, Kinema Junpo Awards and Tokyo International Film Festival. Three different versions of the film were edited: the original 237-minute version, a three-hour version and a shorter 127-minute version.
A Brighter Summer Day is ranked as the 121st most acclaimed film ever.
Film Review of A Brighter Summer Day
Colored by Mr. Yang’s memories of the world he grew up in, it is one of those movies that, by slow accretion of detail and bold dramatic vision, disclose the structure and feeling of an entire world.
The New York Times
Yes, it’s four hours long, but this rarely seen Edward Yang film evokes the heartache and confusion of adolescence, like a Rebel Without a Cause
The Guardian
A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY is one of the most important contemporary masterpieces of Taiwan cinema.
IMDb