Prince of Tears

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Audience Member A skin deep movie for that history. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member The first movie I've ever seen about Taiwan, a real treasure. Great story, which is well developed. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member Yonfan sacrifices historical accuracy for mood and atmosphere when recreating white terror-era Taiwan on screen, and does quite a nice job of it, too. Partly based on the director's own childhood experiences of the period, events unroll painstakingly slow, even to the point of actual slow-motion at times, creating a visual approximation of fleeting memories about to fade. The film has an absolutely gorgeous look but also suffers from the same severe selfindulgence that Yonfan seems to have patented. And the mystery plot really makes no sense, but in the end it doesn't even have to. The melancholic beauty of these images will suffice. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member A fascinating period tale of the early years of the Kuomintang government when they took over Taiwan in the 1950s. Reminiscent of the Joe McCarthy years in the US but with deadlier consequences where a Communist could be found under every bush. A family is caught up in this drama as parents are falsely accused of being Communist spies and their two young children have to make some sense of situation. The film suffers from poor casting and direction of the child actors and a weak script. The surreal ending is also out of context and takes away from the historic drama of the film. This story deserves a film re-make. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member The backdrop is 1950s Taiwan, during a period called "White Terror". An anti Communist campaign resulted in people being arrested and accused of being spies, and excuted. But the true meaning of the film is about love and betrayal. I like the idea, but I think the relationship between two women should be explored further. I like the fact that all characters are flawed, but in the end I don't think any of them learn anything. They just lived on. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member Set in 1950s Taiwan during the period known as "White Terror" when an anti-Communist campaign swept the island. A period of communist witch hunt marks the island’s darkest political scar. It examines the friendship, dignity & betrayal of four people as the political chaos and criss-cross passions take over. The movie is based on a true story. Interesting use of color saturated lensing on certain scenes gives the movie a little sense of old style movies in the 50’s. Though it has some shortcomings like sketchy character development and some melodramatic moments, it is visually still a treat. The story gets to unfold itself towards the end (just have to be a bit patient). The leads (Joseph Chang and Zhu Xuan) are too mannequin like. Good performances from the children. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Prince of Tears

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