A Brighter Summer Day (1991)

Interesting facts

• Awards: 1 · Nominations: 1. Including: Golden Horse Award for Best Feature Film

A Brighter Summer Day is a 1991 Taiwanese epic crime drama film directed by Edward Yang, associated with the New Taiwanese Cinema. Its English title is derived from the lyrics of Elvis Presley's 1960 rendition of "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". Set in the late 1950s and early '60s, the film centers on Hsiao Si’r, a boy from a middle-class home who veers into juvenile delinquency.

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. 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.

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.

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

Yang used Goodfellas as the model of a gangster movie.

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