A Brighter Summer Day

A Brighter Summer Day
Theatrical poster
Traditional	牯嶺街少年殺人事件
Simplified	牯岭街少年杀人事件
Mandarin	Gǔlǐng jiē shàonián shārén shìjiàn
Literally	Youngster Homicide Incident at Guling Street
Directed by	Edward Yang
Produced by	Yu Wei-yen Jan Hung-tze Edward Yang
Screenplay by	Yan Hong-ya Lai Ming-tang Edward Yang Alex Yang
Starring	Chang Chen Lisa Yang Chang Kuo-Chu Elaine Jin Wang Chuan Chang Han
Cinematography	Chang Hui-kung Li Long-yu
Edited by	Bowen Chen
Production company	Yang & His Gang Filmmakers Jane Balfour Films
Distributed by	Cine Qua Non Films
Release date	July 27, 1991 (1991-07-27)
Running time	237 minutes
Country	Taiwan
Language	Mandarin Shanghainese Taiwanese

A Brighter Summer Day is a 1991 Taiwanese drama film directed by Edward Yang and is considered by most to be a masterpiece of contemporary cinema. The film is an extraordinarily large project for a Chinese-language film, not only for its duration of almost four hours, but also for its involvement of more than 100 amateur actors in different roles. The English title is derived from the lyrics of Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". The film was selected as the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Academy Awards but was not nominated.^[1]

The film addresses a great array of human-centred themes such as the eager search for guidance during adolescence, the angst resulting from social detachment, the everyday hardships of parenthood, the pursuit of a satisfying individual and collective identity together with the ennui and frustration prompted by failing to do so, the volatility of young love and friendships, the self-aggrandising tendencies commonplace in teenage-made myths, and, especially, the fatal and irreversible consequences of an aimless life and a bewildering upbringing. Edward Yang also tackles highly sensitive political issues like the rise of Western culture to the detriment of Taiwan's traditions, the wide-spreading of unrest and violence stirred by socio-political uneasiness, the strained coexistence among social classes trying to deal with an uncertain future, the consequent yearn of migrating towards an expectedly-better country, and the proliferation of self-ruled quasi-political organisations (in this case, youth gangs) as a way to substitute an unconvincing State.

Plot

The film takes place over the course of four years in Taiwan, and is about a student in junior high, Xiao Si'r. Xiao Si'r is the fourth child of a large family living in Taipei. The family lives modestly off of the father's government job, and it is clear that Si'r's mother and father are uncomfortable in Taiwan. The film opens in 1959, as Si'r's father fruitlessly pleads with a school administrator to keep Si'r in day school, as opposed to the night school, which is populated with delinquents. The morning after, Si'r and his father listen to the radio, which is broadcasting a list of students accepted into various schools in Taipei.

The film then advances to 1960, where Si'r, along with his best friend, Cat, is spying on the filming of a period drama in a movie studio. Caught by a guard in the rafters, they steal his flashlight and flee the studio, returning to their school. Si'r, noticing movement in a darkened classroom, turns on the flashlight and startles a pair of lovers, whose identities remain unclear. Si'r and Cat are blamed for smashing a window with a baseball bat that night, but defend themselves from accusations. Baseball bats are banned at the school as a result. The film then proceeds to introduce Si'r's classmates at his night school and peers, most notably two gangs of students, the Little Park Boys, the children of civil servants, and the 217s, the children of military officers. These two gangs are fierce rivals, often attacking one another. Si'r is not a member of either gang, although he is closer to the Little Park Boys than the 217's. The Little Park Boys are led by Honey, who is currently hiding from police. Sly leads the gang in his absence. Si'r tells the teachers he believes Sly was the boy he saw kissing a girl in the classroom; Sly and his girlfriend Jade get into trouble and a rivalry erupts between the two boys as a result. After Sly copies Si'r's test, both boys receive demerits. Si'r's father tells him not to take his principal's words to heart as he is not interested in the true aim of education - moral and intellectual betterment, but nonetheless warns his son to stay out of trouble.

Also introduced is Ming, a girl at Si'r's school who was the girlfriend of Honey. Her single mother works as a maid and suffers chronic asthma. Si'r and Ming meet and become friends, and Si'r develops a crush on her, who claims to be eagerly awaiting Honey. The director of the movie spots Ming with Si'r at the set and offers her a role in the film. She sits a screen test but does not pursue it further after a group of Little Park Boys see her with Si'r and intimidate him. At the same time, Sly proposes a truce between them and the 217s, and arranges for a concert of Western pop music to be held with members from both gangs. Cat, a budding singer, phonetically transcribes the lyrics of Elvis Presley's Are You Lonesome Tonight?, with the help of Si'r's eldest sister, who speaks English, and attempts to record a cover.

Preparations for the concert appear to be going well until Honey, wearing the stolen uniform of a sailor as a disguise, unexpectedly resurfaces and berates Sly for setting up the concert, however he finds that the Little Park Boys no longer seem to respect him and show more loyalty to Sly. The night before the concert, Honey meets with Si'r, who he has taken a liking to, introduces him to the older gang of criminals he now belongs to, and explains the reasons for his disappearance. He had killed one of the 217s - supposedly over Ming - and fled to avoid arrest. Honey also "bequeaths" Ming to Si'r, believing Si'r to be stable.

The following night, the concert is performed. Honey appears outside of the concert hall, demanding to be let in for free and insulting the leaders of the gangs. He briefly attacks several gang members before being subdued by Shandong, the leader of the 217s, who agrees to talk to Honey. While walking along a road and discussing the concert, Shandong pushes Honey into the street where he is hit by a car. While the next morning's news reports call Honey's death an accident, it is clear to all of the gangs that Honey was murdered. Ming is initially devastated by Honey's death, but soon recovers, and begins to show interest in Si'r. Soon, a typhoon hits Taipei, and the Little Park Boys massacre the 217's in the midst of the storm. Si'r finds them butchered. On that same night, Si'r's father is arrested by the secret police. He is forced to leave his home without understanding why he has been arrested. Sly and the surviving Little Park Boys go into hiding. Si'r's friend Ma, the son of a rich general, invites him on a double-date with Jade (who he is courting) and her friend; Si'r goes but is uninterested in the girl.

The focus of the film briefly shifts to Si'r's father. He has been arrested because of his former (non-political) associations with Communists in mainland China. He is initially subject to sleep deprivation and then other forms of exhaustion, though he cannot remember critical details about these figures or his friendships with them. After several days, the officials in charge of Si'r's father decide that he poses no threat and order his release. He is relieved to be home, although he is fired as a result of the arrest.

Si'r, meanwhile, has begun a relationship with Ming, and seems to be improving academically. However, she reveals to him that she flirts with other boys, including an adult doctor who treats her mother, and this disturbs Si'r. Ming visits the doctor who reveals he is now engaged; Ming dislikes his fiancée but he does not take her views seriously, believing her to be naive. Si'r and Ming are play fighting with weapons at Ma's house when Ming accidentally fires a bullet at Si'r, leaving him stunned in shock. The next day Si'r is sent to see the school doctor (the same one flirting with Ming). The school nurse berates Si'r for chasing girls, causing Si'r to swear at her. He is once again sent to the principal's office and receives another demerit. As Si'r's father and the administrator argue over Si'r's qualities as a student, Si'r grabs a baseball bat (the school had earlier decreed that it would confiscate all baseball bats on school grounds) and shatters a lightbulb. This act gets him expelled from school, and, along with his father's arrest, earns him the distrust of his fellow students.

Si'r studies to re-take the entrance exams for his school, and aims to become reinstated in the day school, something that brings pride to his father, but upsets Ming, who will see him less as a result. Sly emerges from hiding and apologises to Si'r. Ming's mother is fired by her old employer but goes to work for Ma's parents. The two grow closer and flirt, which upsets Si'r. He begins dating Jade, but it does not work out. She bitterly reveals to him that the girl he saw kissing Sly was Ming, not her. He returns home only to see his father beating his older brother, who took the blame for losing his mother's watch, which was actually Si'r's fault. That night, his sister asks him to convert to Christianity, but he tells her he cannot believe for all the suffering and injustice in the world.

The next day, Si'r is meant to visit the local church with his sister, but instead goes to Ma's and threatens him. Cat attempts to keep the peace to no avail. Si'r visits the film studio and berates the director for his interest in Ming's acting abilities. He then steals Cat's knife and waits outside the school for Ma. Instead, he sees Ming, and berates her for her promiscuity, saying that only he and Honey had the ability to change her. She rejects this, saying that she is unchangeable just like the world is unchangeable, and says he does not understand her and is like the rest of the boys. He stabs her in a fit of rage and misery, and immediately after fails to recognize what he has just done, pleading with her to stand up as she bleeds to death.

Si'r is arrested and held at the police station. Ma is brought in for questioning and cries to himself, having lost his only friend. Si'r becomes hysterical and begins screaming for Ming. Ming's mother attempts suicide but survives. The next day, journalists arrive at her house and question the doctor. After they ask if he was having an affair with Ming, he angrily kicks them out.

Si'r is sentenced to death, but the media controversy around the case provokes the sentence to be changed to 15 years imprisonment. Two years into his sentence, Cat delivers him a tape in which he explains he sent his recording to Elvis, who wrote back and sent him a ring. The prison wardens tell Cat they will deliver the tape, but instead throw it away.

The final scene is set in Si'r's house, now almost devoid of furniture. Si'r's mother is hanging up clothes to dry when she unexpectedly finds Si'r's school uniform. As she sobs into it, the radio starts to broadcast another list of distinguished students.

Cast

• Chang Chen as Xiao Si'r (Chang Chen, Xiao Si'r being a nickname that means "Little Four," or the fourth of five children.)
• Chang Kuo-chu as Xiao Si'r's father
• Elaine Jin as Xiao Si'r's mother
• Lisa Yang as Ming
• Wong Chi-zan as Cat (Wang Mao)
• Lawrence Ko as Airplane
• Tan Chih-kang as Ma
• Lin Hong-ming as Honey
• Wang Chuan as Xiao Si'r's eldest sister
• Chang Han as Lao Er (Elder brother)
• Chiang Hsiu-chiung as Xiao Si'r's middle sister
• Lai Fan-yun as Xiao Si'r's youngest sister

Production

Set in early 1960s, in Taipei, the film is based on a real incident that the director remembers from his school days when he was 13.^[2] The original Chinese title, 牯嶺街少年殺人事件, translates literally as "The Homicide Incident of the Youth on Guling Street", referring to the 14-year-old son of a civil servant who murders his girlfriend, who was also involved with a teenaged gang leader, for unclear reasons. The gang leader and girlfriend are involved in the conflict between gangs of children of formerly-mainland families and those of Taiwanese families. The film places the murder incident in the context of the political environment in Taiwan at that time. The film's political background is introduced in intertitles thus:

Millions of Mainland Chinese fled to Taiwan with the National Government after its civil war defeat by the Chinese Communists in 1949. Their children were brought up in an uneasy atmosphere created by the parents' own uncertainty about the future. Many formed street gangs to search for identity and to strengthen their sense of security.^[3]

Chang Kuo-Chu, and his son Chang Chen (in his debut) are both cast in this film playing father and son.

Critical reception

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.^[2]

A Brighter Summer Day is ranked number 127 in the prestigious list They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?.^[4] Additionally, according to They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?, A Brighter Summer Day is the most acclaimed film of 1991.^[5]

Themes

According to film critic Godfrey Cheshire, the film has "two faces, just as it has two titles" due to the sudden change of plots the film experiences halfway its running time. A Brighter Summer Day notoriously shifts from a fraught, violent story about teenage gangs to a more introspective and family-oriented movie where the main character passively witness how his father is accused of espionage, his brother is in huge debt and his mother suffers in silence. Cheshire explains this transition of "faces" as it follows:

The “outward” face is a highly critical view of a society in which all proper authority—a very Confucian concern—has been eroded or undermined, so that a young man like Xiao Si’r can be hurled into the spiral of violence indicated by the film’s Chinese title, which translates as “The Youth Killing Incident on Guling Street,” referring to a notorious crime that inspired the film. The “inward” face, meanwhile, indicated by the lyrics of the 1960 Elvis Presley hit “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” which gives the film its English title, has little to do with Taiwan and much to do with a condition unbound by time or place: the loneliness, melancholy, and longing of adolescence.^[6]

Restoration and home media

In 2009, the World Cinema Foundation issued a restoration of A Brighter Summer Day, using the original 35mm camera and sound negatives provided by the Edward Yang Estate.^[7]

On December 17, 2015, The Criterion Collection announced the official North American DVD and Blu-ray release of a new 4K digital restoration of the film in its original running time. This release marks the first time A Brighter Summer Day is released on home video in the United States, after more than two decades of obscurity due to difficulty in finding an official copy of the film. The release includes a new English subtitle translation, an audio commentary featuring critic Tony Rayns, an interview with actor Chang Chen; Our Time, Our Story, a 117-minute documentary from 2002 about the New Taiwan Cinema movement, featuring interviews with Yang and film-makers Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, among others; a videotaped performance of director Edward Yang’s 1992 play Likely Consequence; an essay by critic Godfrey Cheshire, and a 1991 director’s statement by Yang.^[8]

Accolades

• Golden Horse Film Festival
  • Won: Best Film
  • Nominated: Best Director – Edward Yang
  • Nominated: Best Actor – Chang Chen
• Asia Pacific Film Festival
  • Won: Best Film
• Tokyo International Film Festival
  • Won: Special Jury Prize
  • Won: FIPRESCI Prize
• Kinema Junpo Awards
  • Won: Best Foreign Language Film Director – Edward Yang
• Nantes Three Continents Festival
  • Won: Best Director – Edward Yang

See also

• List of submissions to the 64th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Taiwanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

References

External links

• A Brighter Summer Day on IMDb
• A Brighter Summer Day at AllMovie
• A Brighter Summer Day at Metacritic
• A Brighter Summer Day at Rotten Tomatoes
• Page on World Cinema Directory