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A Time to Live and a Time to Die


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Date:1985
Director: Hsaio-hsien Hou
Screenwriter: Chou Tien-wen, Hou Hsiao-hsien
Featured Country: Taiwan
Running Time: 145
Format: Color
Original Language: Mandarin
Event: Chinese History


This is director Hou Hsiao-hsien's autobiography of his family's move to Taiwan. One day, his father decides to move the family to the island in order to work and live well for a few years, but the Communist Revolution makes return impossible. Hou Hsiao-hsien, known affectionately as Ah-ha-gu, lives in a small house with his father, mother, two brothers, a sister, and his grandmother. All have developed quirky hobbies or idiosyncrasies which include cutting out paper coins (the grandmother) and practicing calligraphy while holding a raw egg (a brother).

As the months and years progress, their new living situation widens gaps between the generations. His father eventually grows ill and dies. Meanwhile, the youth of his small town are busy marking their territory, Ah-ha-gu runs with a gang, and his mother dies on the eve of a big fight. He decides he should collect all of the money owed to her, but changes his mind when he sees the conditions the debtors live in. A year later, his grandmother dies, he fails his college entrance exams and gets drafted.