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Born in Shanghai, Edward Yang (1947-2007) was one of millions of Chinese citizens who relocated to Taiwan after the defeat of the Nationalist government in 1949. Drawn to the arts, he grew up appreciating cosmopolitan Taipei’s cultural riches, including Japanese manga, American rock and roll, and movies from all over the world. But he only came to filmmaking after studies in engineering in Florida and a job designing computers in Seattle. There, a screening of Werner Herzog’s Aguirre, the Wrath of God inspired him to make his own films. Returning to Taiwan at the age of thirty-three, he-along with a cohort of collaborators, including Hou Hsiao-hsein-contributed to one of the great New Wave film movements of the last century, crafting a new Taiwanese cinema with enduring universal appeal.
Epic in scope and narrative complexity, Yang’s films are grounded by the specificity of their setting-Taipei-as they chronicle the effects of social, political, and economic pressures on the people who live there. From successful businesspeople to troubled teens, petty criminals, and office workers, he frequently depicts alienated individuals longing for connection, belonging, and self-realization. Often shooting the action from a distance, Yang uses long static shots that infuse his depiction of the densely inhabited metropolis and its varied interiors with a spaciousness that enhances the immediacy and realism in his works. But Yang’s cinema never sacrifices emotional resonance to formal elegance and rigor. As critic Manohla Dargis observed, Yang “loves his characters more than his own extraordinary artistry.”
-Kate MacKay, Associate Film Curator
15 фев 2024
