FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER announces TAIWAN STORIES: CLASSIC AND CONTEMPORARY FILM FROM TAIWAN
May 6 – 19

Highlights include appearances by Chung Mong-hong (THE FOURTH PORTRAIT) and Shen Ko-shang (JULIETS)

 

New York, NY, April 14, 2011 – The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the details today for the upcoming film series, Taiwan Stories: Classic and Contemporary Film from Taiwan which will screen at the Walter Reade Theater May 6 – 19.

In celebration of the Centennial of the Republic of China, the film series will present a rare panorama of the ever-surprising Taiwanese Cinema — from the intimate looks at daily life in the early 1960s, to the breathtaking new wave of filmmakers that arose in the 1980s (such as Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang), and on to the fresh turning point marked by recent Taiwanese hits.

One of the highlights of the film series is Taiwan's official entry for the 2008 Academy Awards, Wei Te-Sheng’s romantic musical and box office hit CAPE NO. 7.  Taiwan New Wave stalwarts Edward Yang (IN OUR TIME), Hou Hsiao-hsien (A TIME TO LIVE, A TIME TO DIE, played NYFF in 1985) and Tsai Ming-liang (REBELS OF THE NEON GOD) will also screen in this year’s series. Also notable are Chang Yi’s KUEI-MEI, A WOMAN, starring Yang Huey-sian (described as “Taiwan’s Meryl Streep”), King Hu’s A TOUCH OF ZEN, awarded the Technical Grand prize winner in Cannes in 1969, and Stan Lai’s THE PEACH BLOSSOM LAND, featuring the cinematography of Christopher Doyle. Finally, on Saturday, May 7, the Walter Reade will play host to a special conversation on Taiwanese Cinema featuring filmmakers and film scholars.

Film Society of Lincoln Center Program Director Richard Pena said, “Since the mid-Eighties, Taiwan has produced some of the finest, most challenging films made anywhere. With Taiwan Stories: Classic and Contemporary Film from Taiwan, we have sought to show how this tradition of excellence extends to the very beginnings of Taiwanese cinema as well as continues up through today.”

Tickets are on sale both at the box office and on-line. Discounts are available for Film Society members. Read more about The Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Screenings will be held at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater, located at 165 West 65th Street, between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway.

Taiwan Stories: Classic and Contemporary Film from Taiwanis co-presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, with the sponsorship of the Government Information Office of Taiwan and the cooperation with the Chinese Taipei Film Archive. Special thanks to Teresa Huang, Peggy Chiao, and Isabelle Wu for their support of the series.
 

PRESS SCREENING (AT THE WALTER READE THEATRE)

Thursday, April 21
10:00AM        THE FOURTH PORTRAIT (105min)

Friday, April 22
10:00AM        JULIETS (106min)

 

PUBLIC SCREENING SCHEDULE FOR TAIWAN STORIES: CLASSIC AND CONTEMPORARY FILM FROM TAIWAN

Screening Venue:
The Film Society of Lincoln Center – Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65 Street, between Broadway & Amsterdam (upper level)

Friday, May 6
2:00PM          REBELS OF THE NEON GOD (106min)
4:10PM          THE OYSTER GIRL (113min)
6:30PM          THE FOURTH PORTRAIT (105min)
                        with Q&A
9:00PM          THE PEACH BLOSSOM LAND (106min)

Saturday, May 7
1:30PM          JULIETS (106min)
                        with Q&A
4:00PM          Conference on Taiwanese Cinema
6:10PM          CAPE NUMBER 7 (129min)
8:45PM          A TIME TO LIVE AND A TIME TO DIE (136min)

Sunday, May 8
1:30PM          THE OYSTER GIRL (113min)
3:30PM          THE FOURTH PORTRAIT (105min)
                        with Q&A
6:10PM          OUR NEIGHBORS (91min)
8:00PM          BEAUTY OF BEAUTIES (154min)

Monday, May 9
2:00PM          EARLY TRAIN FROM TAIPEI (98min)
4:00PM          OUR NEIGHBORS (91min)

Tuesday, May 10
2:00PM          THE SILENT WIFE (94min)
4:00PM          AUTUMN EXECUTION (99min)
6:15PM          EARLY TRAIN FROM TAIPEI (98min)
8:00PM          THE SILENT WIFE (94min)

Wednesday, May 11
2:00PM          STORY OF MOTHER (88min)
4:00PM          HOME SWEET HOME (108min)
6:15PM          THE SILENT WIFE (94min)
8:15PM          AUTUMN EXECUTION (99min)

Thursday, May 12
1:30PM          IN OUR TIME (109min)
3:45PM          KUEI-MEI, A WOMAN (120min)
6:15PM          IN OUR TIME (109min)
8:30PM          BEAUTY OF BEAUTIES (154min)

Friday, May 13
1:00PM          CAPE NO. 7 (129min)
3:30PM          MONGA (141min)
6:15PM          STORY OF MOTHER (88min)
8:10PM          A TOUCH OF ZEN (185min)

Saturday, May 14
5:45PM          KUEI-MEI, A WOMAN (120min)
8:15PM          MONGA (141min)

Sunday, May 15
2:00PM          HOME SWEET HOME (108min)
4:15PM          A TIME TO LIVE AND A TIME TO DIE (136min)
7:00PM          A TOUCH OF ZEN (185min)

Tuesday, May 17
1:45PM          PEACH BLOSSOM LAND (106min)
4:00PM          ROUGE OF THE NORTH (107min)
6:15PM          REBELS OF THE NEON GOD (106min)
8:20PM          ROUGE OF THE NORTH (107min)

Wednesday, May 18
1:45PM          TEARS (111min)
4:00PM          JULIETS (106min)
6:15PM          TEARS (111min)
8:30PM          STORY OF MOTHER (88min)

Thursday, May 19
1:30PM          A TOUCH OF ZEN (185min)

 

FILM DESCRIPTIONS FOR TAIWAN STORIES: CLASSIC AND CONTEMPORARY FILM FROM TAIWAN:

AUTUMN EXECUTION (Qiu jue) (1971) 99min
Director: Li Xing
Condemned to death, a rich young ne’er-do-well in the Han Dynasty waits months for his execution, leading his grandmother to plot a marriage for him.
AUTUMN EXECUTION screens May 10 and 11.

BEAUTY OF BEAUTIES (Xi shih) (1965) 154min
Director: Li Hanxiang
In this spectacular historical epic, a gorgeous villager is sent to the king’s palace to ferment palace intrigue at the behest of a conquered rival.
BEAUTY OF BEAUTIES screens May 8 and 12.

CAPE NO. 7 (Hai jiao qi hao) (2008) 129min
Director: Wei Te-Sheng
In Wei’s box-office smash, a singer turned postman finds love and music in a seaside town thanks to a cache of love letters and an impromptu concert.
CAPE NO. 7 screens May 7 and 13.

EARLY TRAIN FROM TAIPEI (1964) 98min
Director: Liang Zhefu
An innocent country girl experiences the harsh realities of the big city in Liang’s lurid melodrama. Featuring contemporary Taiwanese pop.
EARLY TRAIN FROM TAIPEI screens on May 10.

THE FOURTH PORTRAIT (2010) 104min
Director: Chung Mong-Hong
An orphan ends up with a prostitute foster mother and tries to stay on track in Chung’s award-winning mix of art house aesthetics and family drama.
THE FOURTH PORTRAIT screens May 6 and 8.

HOME SWEET HOME (1970) 108min
Director: Pai Ching-jui
Pai’s extraordinary ensemble story of homecoming uses different styles and split screens in tracing the fates of 15 characters after they arrive in Taipei.
HOME SWEET HOME screens May 11 and 15.

IN OUR TIME (Guangyin de gushi) (1982) 109min
Directors: Tao Dechen, Edward Yang, Ko Yi-cheng & Chan Yi
Edward Yang (director of YI YI) directed one of the four episodes in this nuanced omnibus that helped inaugurate the New Taiwan Cinema.
IN OUR TIME screens on May 12.

JULIETS (2010) 106min
Directors: Chen Yu-Hsun, Hou Chi-jan, Shen Ko-Shang
Delving into the darker side of romance, these three reinterpretations of Shakespeare’s tragic heroine span the 1970s, 1980s, and today.
Followed by a Conference on Taiwanese Cinema on May 7, at 4:00PM!
JULIETS screens May 7 and 18.

KUEI-MEI, A WOMAN (1985) 120min
Director: Chang Yi
After leaving the mainland, a woman weathers a lousy husband and the trials of work. The film stars Yang Huey-sian.
KUEI-MEI, A WOMAN screens May 12 and 14.

MONGA (2010) 141min
Director: Doze Niu
This stylish, wildly popular gangster epic, set in 1980s Taiwan at the end of the military dictatorship, follows a young man’s coming-of-age through turf wars and more.
MONGA screens May 13 and 14.

OUR NEIGHBORS (aka HEAD OF STREET, END OF LANE)(Jietou xiangwei) (1963) 91min
Director: Li Xing
Li’s warm urban portrait of a garbage man takes a neorealist approach, using location shooting as it draws out a slum’s sense of community.
OUR NEIGHBORS screens May 8 and 9.

<span style=”font-size:12px;”>OYSTER GIRL (1964) 98min        
Directors: Li Xing & Li Jia
This strong example of so-called “healthy realism” unpretentiously details seaside life through the tale of a woman whose widowed father wants a high dowry.
OYSTER GIRL screens May 6 and 8.

THE PEACH BLOSSOM LAND (Anlian taohua yuan) (1992) 106min
Director: Stan Lai
This clever comedy about conflicting theater troupes marked the auspicious film debut of noted playwright Stan Lai. Cinematography by Christopher Doyle. The film stars Brigitte Lin.
THE PEACH BLOSSOM LAND screens May 6 and 17.

REBELS OF THE NEON GOD (Qing shaonian nezha) (1992) 106min
Director: Tsai Ming-liang
One of Taiwan’s modern masters, Tsai Ming-liang (GOOD BYE, DRAGON INN, VIVE L’AMOUR), debuted with this gritty tale of teens negotiating the haunting spaces, physical and psychological, of modern city life.
REBELS OF THE NEON GOD screens May 6 and 17.

ROUGE OF THE NORTH(Yuan nu) (1988) 107min
Director: Fred Tan
Married off to a rich man, a woman gets an unsentimental education in a backstabbing household, in Fred Tan’s exquisitely designed, clear-eyed, dark melodrama.
ROUGE OF THE NORTH screens on May 17.

THE SILENT WIFE (1965) 94min
Director: Li Xing
Stalwart filmmaker Li scored a box-office hit with this romance of self-sacrifice about a virtuous mute, adapted from a work by the wildly popular Qiong Yao.
THE SILENT WIFE screens May 10 and 11.

STORY OF MOTHER (Mu qin san shi sui) (1972) 88min
Director: Song Cunshou
After a young free-spirited mother abandons her dying husband for her lover, the infidelity still upsets their son, in Song’s wrenching and unusual scenario.
STORY OF MOTHER screens May 11, 13 and 18.

TEARS (Yan lei) (2009) 111min
Director: Chen Wen-tang
A detective investigating a girl’s overdose decides to dig deeper and encounters an innocent-seeming university student who may have a dark side.
TEARS screens on May 18.

A TIME TO LIVE, A TIME TO DIE (Tongnian wangshi) (1985) 136min
Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien
The peerless director’s early masterpiece draws on closely observed autobiographical detail for a transporting, unhurried portrait of provincial life. The film was an official selection for the New York Film Festival in 1985.
A TIME TO LIVE, A TIME TO DIE screens May 7 and 15.

A TOUCH OF ZEN (Xai nu) (1969) 185min
Director: King Hu
From the original master of the martial-arts movie comes this Cannes festival award-winner, a contemplative classic about a poor scholar’s quest for experience.
A TOUCH OF ZEN screens May 13, 15 and 19.

 

About the Film Society of Lincoln Center
The Film Society of Lincoln Center was founded in 1969 to celebrate American and international cinema, to recognize and support new directors, and to enhance the awareness, accessibility and understanding of film. Advancing this mandate today, the Film Society hosts two distinguished festivals. The New York Film Festival annually premieres films from around the world and has introduced the likes of François Truffaut, R.W. Fassbinder, Jean-Luc Godard, Pedro Almodóvar, Martin Scorsese, and Wong Kar-Wai to the United States. New Directors/New Films, co-presented by the Museum of Modern Art, focuses on emerging film talents. Additionally, the Film Society presents a year-round calendar of programming at its Walter Reade Theater and offers insightful film writing to a worldwide audience through Film Comment magazine. The Film Society receives generous, year-round support from 42BELOW, American Airlines, The New York Times, Stella Artois, the National Endowment for the Arts, WNET New York Public Media and the New York State Council on the Arts. For more information, visit: www.FilmLinc.com