← Back to results
A Brighter Summer Day
牯嶺街少年殺人事件
1991 237 min Taiwan 12+
★8.2
Crime, Drama, Romance
Director: Edward Yang
Trailers
EN
EN
Description
A boy experiences first love, friendships and injustices growing up in 1960s Taiwan.
Starring
Chang Chen
Actor
Lisa Yang
Actor
Kuo-Chu Chang
Actor
Awards
8 wins & 13 nominations total
Key opinion
A Brighter Summer Day is widely lauded as an epic, meditative masterpiece that captures the political and social malaise of 1960s Taiwan. While its expansive length and deliberate, detached style are praised by many as essential to its atmospheric power, some viewers find the unconventional pacing and clinical distance challenging.
| Theme | The film masterfully uses its historical setting to mirror the pervasive anxiety and social fracture of Taiwan’s White Terror era. | |
| Cinematography | The nocturnal, artificial lighting creates an oppressive, noir-like atmosphere that effectively reflects the characters' existential isolation. | |
| Direction | The deliberate use of long shots and a restrained, unemotional shooting style provides a documentary-like detachment that avoids typical genre melodrama. | |
| Pacing | The four-hour runtime is a point of contention: supporters argue it creates a necessary, immersive meditation on a lost generation, while others find the slow, stagnant tempo exhausting. |