A Time to Live, a Time to Die

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Audience Member The gentle summer breeze, the trees swaying in the wind, the cluttered railway tracks, the wooden chopstick baskets on the wall, the camera maintains a sense of distance throughout, calmly watching the natural laws of growth, death, parting, and forgetting. At the end of the film, the grandmother dies and the result of growing up is directed towards oblivion, a journey that everyone is unwilling but unconscious to embark on. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review William L A film that might fall between the cracks among other sweeping Taiwanese social dramas (particularly in comparison to A Brighter Summer Day and the shared adolescent/youth gang narrative), but worthy of consideration as an independent work. The Time to Live and the Time to Die is a coming-of-age story told with a particularly methodical nature, often employing static camera techniques and incorporating moments of lethargy with just as much frequency as it does the key junctures in the life of young Ah-hsiao, creating a sense of familiarity with his circumstances that wouldn't have been possible with a simple review of influential events as if we, as viewers, were reviewing an obituary. Using the austere circumstance of his protagonist's upbringing (which were heavily influenced by his own life story), particularly the unsure identity in an international transplant family caught up in unexpected circumstances but still facing the trials of ordinary life, Hou creates a compelling standalone narrative as well as a representation of emerging Taiwanese culture. Beautiful cinematography only adds to the final product. Also, talk about a dark ending. Tinged with hope, but dark. (4/5) Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/03/21 Full Review Audience Member Одна из лучших лент в истории мирового кино, центральная фабула которой посвящена процессу взосления, в ходе которого приходится осознавать свойства беспечного бытия и агонии! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member As is often the case with autobiographical films the action is very episodic and there's very little to pull it all together or sustain dramatic tension. Many of the individual scenes are well done but it's very slow moving and I was more often bored than moved. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review S R 1001 movies to see before you die. An interesting narrative of a struggling Taiwanese family. It highlights the importance of traditional family in Taiwan, all while set in the time period showing some history of the country. It showed me some of the culture that I hadn't seen and it reminded me of my visit to the country. However, it also showed me the poverty side of their country that usually isn't seen. It was on Amazon. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Flat & trivial. Not really my thingy. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews

A Time to Live, a Time to Die

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