The Films (3.5/5)

During the 1980’s and 90’s Taiwan’s film industry had a new burst of creative energy. Just like the French Nouvelle Vague and Japan their New Wave of artistic films, Taiwanese cinema started to change and become more seen in the world market. One of the key directors in this movement was Hou Hsiao-Hsien (A CITY OF SADNESS, 2015’s THE ASSASSIN).  He started his career as a screenwriter, but soon moved to directing with 1980’s CUTE GIRL. Eureka! Masters of Cinema Collection has packaged three of Hou Hsiao-Hsien's Early films in a set that served as my introduction to this exciting filmmaker.

CUTE GIRL stars singer Fong Fei-fei as a business woman with a wealthy family. She dreams of just living her life and having fun with multiple boyfriends and wild adventures. But her family wants her to marry into a stable financial relationship. Trying to get away from it all she calls her aunt in a quiet village and takes a vacation. While there she meets a handsome land surveyor (Kenny Bee) and romance is in the air.

CUTE GIRL follows all the trademarks of a classic romantic comedy and lacks the visual punch of his later works. But this doesn’t harm the film because the finished product is a light and enjoyable bubbly experience. I had a hard time not smiling at how sweet the characters were. It’s a fun slice of life in Taiwan with some city vs country mindsets. But on a shallow level it’s an enjoyable series of miscommunication and sight gags.

With singers Kenny Bee and Fong Fei-fei in the cast, the film has its share of playful music and a series of “Cute Girl” theme songs. It could be said the film is a kind of musical but it’s more of a playful choir to the events on screen. Hou Hsiao-Hsien handles all the broad comedy well, even some of the cheaper poop gags and sound effects. While this film won’t change your life, it was a happy 90 minutes that I can’t wait to revisit.

THE GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME (1982) stars Kenny Bee as a substitute teacher who moves to a small village town. When he arrives, the school is in bad shape with plenty of issues with the students. He soon discovers that the town has a serious issue with illegal fishing, including some fishermen poisoning the streams. As he investigates the problem further, he decides to push for reform in town.

THE GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME is more observational in tone compared to CUTE GIRL. The plot itself isn’t as important to Hsiao-Hsien as the workings of the village are. His camera doesn’t judge the characters, he just films them as is like in a documentary. His visual eye is also in full force here with lovely shots of the vistas of the hills, and some usual camera setups in the homes. Kenny Bee is likable as ever as the teacher and unlike CUTE GIRL, this doesn’t seem to be a meet cute type of role.

The film takes plenty of time to look at the lives of all the students and their relationships. There is some coming of age tales and plenty of misunderstandings as they question some of their parents. With some of the misty photography there is a sense of nostalgia for a simpler time. Some nice side story shows a little boy who finds a hurt little owl and starts to realize his love of animals could lead to a career and a true calling in life. The film ends with a sweet play in the teacher’s home, which happens to be a make shift theater with an upstairs bedroom. They kids sing about the dangers of poisoning the lake. And in a funny bit that reminded me of Yoshimitsu Banno’s GODZILLA VS HEDORAH (1971), perform with fish masks.

THE BOYS OF FENGKUEI (1983) Tells the story of three young men who finally leave their home town after years of trouble making and fighting youth gangs. When they arrive in the big city, they soon realize how unprepared they are for adult life. The harsh work load and shallow love is soon enough to make they start question their life choices.

THE BOYS OF FENGKUEI marks a change in Hou Hsiao-Hsien's work towards looser narratives and offbeat pacing. The first 30 minutes are fast and wild with little time for characterization. But by the hour mark we start to see how the city life is hurting our unprepared protagonists. Here the story is more about mood with plenty of shots of the shoreline and quiet moments in the apartment building where they live.

It’s a slower film that isn’t suited to all tastes but its dreamlike and mellow. I found myself lost in its world. It was the most observational of the three films and I found myself questioning what would happen to the characters once the runtime was over. It was breezy like ocean waves and the opened ending was powerful in how it seemed to not matter. The sounds of the city slowly eat away the voice of the heartbroken youth.

Audio/Video (4.5/5)

All three films look simply stunning with a minor issue in THE GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME. Eureka! Releases all three with uncompressed audio in the original Mandarin with English subtitles. The sound is crisp with plenty of lovely sounds from the natural settings.

The 1080p HD transfers are likewise impressive. BOYS seem a little too bright in a few spots. The most impressive in terms of picture clearness is CUTE GIRL which has next to no issues with sharpness.

Extras (2.5/5)

There are three Video essays on the films by Adrian Martin and Cristina Alvarez Lopez. Happy New Year (CUTE GIRL) talks about Hou Hsiao-Hsien's first time directing and the romantic comedy genre. A Sweet Little Village (THE GREEN GREEN GRASS OF HOME) discusses the use of narrative and how it would latter change in his filmography. Finally, there is I’m Still There (THE BOYS OF FENGKUEI) which explains Hou Hsiao-Hsien's use of time and pacing. The sound quality on all three is rough with noise in the background from each of the films.

Overall (4/5)

A great introduction to the works of Hou Hsiao-Hsien. For fans or newcomers to Taiwanese cinema, this set is a safe bet. Highly Recommended.