Good Men, Good Women

Hsiao-hsien Hou's Good Men, Good Women (1995) is the conclusion to his trilogy of films dealing with Taiwan's history. This time there are two parallel stories which take place in different periods of time: the first story is an account of Taiwanese people who returned to China to fight against Japan in the 1940's - and the other one is a story of the misfortuners of a single actress.

Hou once again uses a lot of ellipses in the storytelling masterfully. However, his narrative isn't without a problem this time: the first 15-20 minutes of the film are baffling because he plays around too much with the chronology so I had a hard time figuring out who's who. After the initial struggle, the film turns into a clear and stunning take of people struggling with the past. Their mental state reflects the situation of Taiwan itself - a shackled country.

Hou's form is distinctively different in portraying the two stories. The older storyline is depicted in his usual, static way while the newer one is a bit more kinetic, intimate and seemingly more improvised. Both of these styles work very well to reflect the differences (yet possible similarities) between the stories. Hou's use of music is top-notch yet again: especially the song used at the end of the film is unforgettable.

Good Men, Good Women is one of the most directly poignant films Hou has ever made. Despite its initial problems it turned out to be yet another good film from the Taiwanese director.

Score: 9 out of 10