Being an avid cinephile, I had heard of
A Brighter Summer Day years ago - but for various reasons held off on actually watching the film. The four-hour length, Asian setting/early 1960's time period, and the subtitles all gave me the impression that the movie - though obviously critically acclaimed - would be way too long & dense for me to appreciate.
But, I finally gave this a chance recently - and, I was
extremely impressed. Despite the unusually long running time, not
one moment of this superb film dragged or felt forced. It actually felt more like watching a documentary from late 1950's/early 1960's Taiwan than an actual film. Very epic in scope, with naturalistic acting - obviously in large part because the actors/actresses were mainly non-professionals.
I especially enjoyed the great attention to detail. I've seen a lot of historical films, but ABSD felt
extremely authentic - more so than most other films of this type I've seen. I.e., the old-time record/tape players, the pictures of Elvis on the walls, the school uniforms, the tea in those unusual clear cups, etc. really made you feel as if you were transported back to that time & place. I also appreciated the scene where the father was being interrogated by the authorities, and you saw that big pool of water on the cement floor - obviously a result of the rain/flooding that had occurred the previous day/night; the electricity going off and on due to power outages, etc. It's little touches like this that made the film much more realistic/authentic.
It was interesting to see the extreme contrast between
Xiao Si’r's strict, regimented home life with his family & the chaotic, sometimes violent street gang life that he got involved in at night.
And, the street gang violence was fairly vicious & permeated the whole film....starting off with that defenseless little kid who got hit in the head by a brick (in the beginning);
the gang leader Honey getting murdered by being pushed in front of a car; and the later gang members being systematically killed during a surprise attack by a rival gang.
However, this aforementioned violence didn't prepare me for
the heinous, cowardly murder that closed out the film; I was shocked when Xiao Si’r stabbed Ming in cold blood, apparently because he was jealous & felt that she had "shamed" herself. I did not see that coming, and it's actually the last thing I would have expected to happen in the film - especially since, towards the end, the movie was leading you in the direction of thinking there would be a fight/confrontation between Xiao Si’r & his former friend Ma - over Ming.
I know this murder is based on a true event that Edward Yang (the director) remembered from his youth. And, I'm wondering if the perpetaror in the real-life crime only got 15 years in prison, just like Xiao Si’r did in ABSD. If so, this is a surprisingly light sentence for a heinous crime like this.