Feng gui lai de ren

despite my family being from the mainland i felt like i was given a rare glimpse at what my father's boyhood could have looked like

The quiet desperation of the young trying to make it is palpable, made greater by obstacles self-inflicted and not that threaten Ah-Ching's well being. A powerful cut late in the film (after one character receives devastating news) opens the film up from its slowly constricting nature. After an hour+ of shots through borders (doorways and windows, mostly), this one shot serves as something of a release, emotionally and relationally, in the flow of the story. Hou is a master of such moments.

That youthful longing to transcend normalcy. To dote on what is just out of reach. The scene on the eleventh floor of the abandoned building will stick with me.

A fair, if slow, coming of age story that evokes a bit of Ozu's style: low cameras and long, lingering shots. There's a bit of melancholy in this country-boys-go-to-the-city theme which seems pretty universal. I prefer characters to have learned something in the experience (other than "life sucks," I guess), so this one didn't quite grab me like others do.

Absolutely wonderful colors. Nice slow cinema. But I feel there will always be a limit to the depiction of the feeling of being list in coming-of-age movies.

A solid coming-of-age tale from a director who seems like he knows what he's doing.