A Brighter Summer Day (1991)

[Oscar Rothman]

A Brighter Summer Day Blu-ray PRE-ORDER



New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
New audio commentary featuring critic Tony Rayns
New interview with actor Chen Chang
Our Time, Our Story, a 117-minute documentary from 2002 about the New Taiwan Cinema movement, featuring interviews with Yang and filmmakers Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, among others
Videotaped performance of director Edward Yang’s 1992 play Likely Consequence
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: An essay by critic Godfrey Cheshire and a 1991 director’s statement by Yang

[SkyAntoine]

I can't wait to spend half a day watching this!

[JoeBuck]

So down for this!
Criterion is on a roll with 2016

[NoirFan]

This must be a record - a release seven years after confirmation!

[Markgway]

Am I the only person who found this to be boring as sin?

[javi92]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

I can't wait to spend half a day watching this!

Yeah, that was my thought exactly. To finally have a decent version of this for home video consumption is fantastic.

[Martin_31]

Is there a trailer?

[Scholer]

Originally Posted by Martin_31

Is there a trailer?

Double that! I am so excited to see any footage at all from the restoration after having watched the film years back in one of the worst transfers possible.

[asabreed]

$22.99 right now at Amazon.

Locked it in.

[oliver_67]

The best film from Taiwan from the last 30 years. Or even more. A flat out masterpiece.

[MifuneFan]

This is coming to a local theater next week. I've never seen it, so would people recommend it as a good theater type of movie? It'd probably be the longest movie I've seen in a theater, so I don't know if that may affect my enjoyment or not.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

This is coming to a local theater next week. I've never seen it, so would people recommend it as a good theater type of movie? It'd probably be the longest movie I've seen in a theater, so I don't know if that may affect my enjoyment or not.

I dare you...

[howellchyan]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

This is coming to a local theater next week. I've never seen it, so would people recommend it as a good theater type of movie? It'd probably be the longest movie I've seen in a theater, so I don't know if that may affect my enjoyment or not.

It is considered as the greatest Chinese-Language movie by one third of film critics from Chinese/Taiwan/Hong Kong in a recent poll, though many of them didn't even have a chance to see a decent version of it.
Yes, it's more like those movies critics like, with lots of long shots etc, and it lasts nearly 4 hours. So I suppose it's totally up to you

[Hadjimurad]

What an incredible film. One of the few films that I would unreservedly rate a 10.

[dannylin]

A Brighter Summer Day was adopted from a local murder incident in the 1960s where Taiwan is still under the Martial law (for more than 38 years and was ended in July 15, 1987). After waiting from 25 years since its debut on big screens and waited for more than 5 years on the restoration and release plan. I spent 4 hours enjoying this great work with a very simple but heart touching story.

While I personally adored Edward Yang so much as a native Taiwanese. I also like the other 2 restored blu-rays of his works: The Terrorists (released by Central Motion Pictures from Taiwan) & YiYi (released by CC as well).

[Scottie]

Review is up.

[harpolini]

I can't wait to get this. That substantial documentary "Our Time, Our Story" sounds fascinating!

[Ray Jackson]

I watched about 2 1/2 hours of this last night...first time viewing.

I'll say this for Edward Yang...he certainly makes you work for it.

A four-hour film that moves at a snail's pace, with no musical score.

It's possible that I'll feel differently after it's all over and the sum total of the story comes into full focus.

But for now I'm feeling about the same way that I felt after seeing Yi Yi for the first time.

Which is to say it's good, but too slow, too long and I can't imagine ever watching it more than once or twice.

...I really feel that a film of this length would've benefited from a good score.

[SammyJankis]

More-so than any film of its kind, I think Yang manages to justify nearly every minute of its runtime. It doesn't indulge in the story its telling in a way that some would criticize Hou for (not that I'd agree.) By the time it reaches the final thirty minutes, it hits you hard, and I don't think it would retain that power were it not for the careful precision of what proceeded it.

[llj]

It's less about watching a conventional story and more about watching world building in the most cinematic sense of the word. Yes, YiYi was about that too, but I always felt a few things in YiYi's world were a little too neat, too controlled, whereas ABSD embraces the messiness of its world. But I hate to bash one film to defend another, though--they're both landmark films in Taiwanese cinema either way. I sense this film is destined to become the underrated one in Yang's oeuvre as more people voice their displeasure at its flaws. I think it's just a great film, warts and all.