The Winter of 1905

Please note that the digital scan being presented may appear faded and of rugged quality.

Before he turned his attention to directing, Edward Yang contributed the screenplay to this rarely screened period piece starring legendary Hong Kong action director Tsui Hark (Peking Opera Blues) as the great Chinese artist and Buddhist monk Li Shutong, aka Master Hong Yi. In 1905, Li traveled to Japan to study Western painting and music, and upon his return revolutionized the teaching of art in China, influencing an entire generation of artists. Set during the turbulent era of the Russo-Japanese War, director Yu Wei-cheng’s film reveals the human dimension of this celebrated figure, while Yang’s sensitive script depicts Li as a young intellectual hewing to his artistic ideals in the face of great political turmoil. Courtesy of the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute.