Hou Hsiao-hsien

[Soothsayer]

Millennium Mambo is impressive, but tbh I think it's possibly the least of his run of 1989-2005 films - it's probably the easiest to digest because if you know absolutely nothing about Asia, much less Taiwan, it's possible you'll be completely lost with his other films. (I was surprised how many people I know weren't aware of Taiwan's connection to Japan.)

Daughter of the Nile is also quite accessible and the viewer doesn’t need a deep understanding of Taiwanese politics or culture to enjoy it.

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

So, Spectrum released a UHD of Millennium Mambo in France: https://store.potemkine.fr/dvd/37700155 ... iao-hsien/

Unfortunately, only French subs...

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[dadaistnun]

Just saw this on Twitter:

“Saw Hou Hsiao-hsien's THE TIME TO LIVE AND THE TIME TO DIE at London's @TheGardenCinema today. Great screening with a lovely, specially recorded intro by Tony Rayns.

Sorry to hear from that intro that Hou's health is failing him and he likely won't make another film.”

[hearthesilence]

Just saw this on Twitter:

“Saw Hou Hsiao-hsien's THE TIME TO LIVE AND THE TIME TO DIE at London's @TheGardenCinema today. Great screening with a lovely, specially recorded intro by Tony Rayns.

Sorry to hear from that intro that Hou's health is failing him and he likely won't make another film.”

I had no idea he was ill. Apparently there was a rumor going around about an early dementia diagnosis. On the other hand, when the restoration of A City of Sadness premiered in February of this year and the film’s cowriter Chu Tien-wen said Hou was unable to attend, due to health issues stemming from a severe case of COVID-19 the previous September, he also added that he was slowly recovering his strength and skipping the premiere under doctor's orders.

If this is it for Hou, it's a tremendous loss to cinema and all the more depressing given how the film industry treated him during the last decade of his career (financing only one film and keeping so much of his best work out-of-circulation).

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

There were reports in 2020 that Hou had been diagnosed with Parkinson's, which he never addressed himself but were quickly denied by Chu Tien-wen and Liao Ching-sung. He does have longstanding but unspecified gastrointestinal issues and missed a couple of events in 2019 (including the Taiwanese premiere of the Flowers of Shanghai restoration) due to a major flare-up. That would provide an alternate explanation for the marked weight loss that partially sparked the Parkinson's rumor.

[yoloswegmaster]

Indiewire has confirmed that he has dementia.

[hearthesilence]

Hou's family has issued a detailed statement in the wake of news spreading about Hou's retirement from filmmaking.

A Chinese to English translation of the family statement that was signed by Cao Baofeng, Hou’s wife, his son Isaac Hou and his daughter Bess Hou:

Our father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease a while ago, but it did not deter his passion for films as he continued to direct and produce his next film. More recently, his condition has worsened after a bout with COVID-19, and this has resulted in his retirement from the film industry.

While this is an unexpected development and disappointing news to all, we ask our father’s friends and fans not to despair. Before he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he had often shared with us that his love for films has become purer.

Since recovery from COVID-19, he is now dedicating time to his family while recuperating with the same pureness and peace of mind. His company continues to be operational and we appreciate the kind notes of encouragement from all.

As our father has devoted his entire life to producing films, it was difficult for him to spare time and energy for the family. Despite the challenges, we are grateful that our father’s condition has allowed the family to spend time together and re-establish our love and devotion for one another. We ask everyone to kindly give our family space and peace, as this is much needed at this point of our father’s life.

Regrettably, the production of our father’s next film ‘On the Shulan River’ has discontinued due to his illness. Nevertheless, his reputation as a filmmaker has been cemented through numerous critically-acclaimed films in Taiwan and internationally through the years. His contribution to the world of cinema will not be forgotten, and his dedication and compassion toward film making will be fondly remembered by his friends and fans.

As we navigate this difficult time for our family, we again humbly ask for your kind respect for our privacy and extend our utmost gratitude for your support. No further comment will be issued at this time.

- Hou Fuyue, Hou Yunhua, Cao Baofeng

[tamingthetiger47]

Apologies, too many details to remember about Hou's films in general. I went through this thread again and tried to straighten out my memory. Just to have it all in one post, here's what people reported on The Puppetmaster when they had the touring retrospective in 2014/2015 plus what I reported in 2016 at MoMA:

23 Sep 2014

The print of The Puppetmaster was very nice, but not new I don't think. In any case, it is apparently the only English subtitled print in the world, according to [the retrospective's organizer] Richard Suchenski...It was the most difficult print to obtain in the entire series...

03 May 2015

I just got back from The Puppetmaster screening in Chicago. There was a pretty lengthy lecture beforehand, as well as a Q&A with Suchenski...he did emphasize how difficult it was to get this film screened. It's a personal favorite of his, and he held back the retrospective for a year and had to get Hou to intervene in order to show it. He couldn't comment too much on the rights issues, but did mention that from a preservationists standpoint, steps are being taken to ensure that this film will be protected for posterity even if it is unlikely that the rights will ever be sorted out.

Very excited that I got to see this, and despite the subpar picture quality I would encourage everybody to seek it out while it is showing. During the Q&A Suchenski made a comment that the physical film had the darkest print he had ever seen, and there's a special quality to the way a projector bulb opens it up, so it's well worth seeing this last remaining English subbed print.

I haven't seen the DVD beyond DVDBeaver caps, but Suchenski said it may be the worst DVD he's ever seen. It was pretty disappointing when he said home video rights are stonewalled, since this will likely be the only time I can see this film in decent quality. He mentioned that they tried to track down other subbed prints, but they all seem to have been destroyed in the last two decades. His comment about taking steps at preservation was in response to a question about whether the negative or other materials exist, so that was heartening.

Re: the rights, he said he couldn't get into specifics, but did say it was common for films released after the ending of Martial Law and relative opening of the island in the late 80s through the early 90s to have really tangled rights issues. He also stated that rights holders often don't have any interest in seeing films released. I had assumed that the copyright laws of the time were untested and full of holes, but organized crime taking advantage of newly opened markets could fit that description as well.

I also attended the Chicago screening of The Puppetmaster and want to reiterate the last point in Jindianajonz' post. I was very surprised to hear Professor Suchenski say that the print being shown is the only English-subtitled print currently in existence.

Was also at the Puppetmaster screening in Chicago this weekend. Richard Suchenski, who organized the retrospective and edited the book Michael mentions, spoke briefly about the issues concerning the circulation of the film. Although he understandably couldn't go into details, he did affirm that the film is tied up in a rights dispute that is unlikely to be resolved in the near future. The 20-year-old print screened at the Film Center is, per Suchenski, the only English-subtitled print in existence. He also said that the fuzzy transfer used on the out-of-print Winstar DVD, which is cropped to the Academy ratio, is the only digital transfer of The Puppetmaster he knows of. (And one reason he was unable to use frame grabs in the book.) The film's negative has been preserved, however, so if and when the rights issues are sorted out, new prints could be struck and a HD master could be made. But--sadly--don't hold your breath.

...the problem with setting up a screening is not only that there are so few prints, but that the rights have yet to be sorted out. Legally, you can't charge for a screening if you don't pay the rights holder, so it had to be billed as an educational event. Tickets for the Film Center event were for Suchenski's lecture, with the screening as a "free" bonus. This is not the sort of thing that is very repeatable.

In theory the film might be screened for a class, but you'd have to talk with Hou's company, who I believe are custodians of the extant prints. I imagine they would want to limit the number of screenings, since each time one of the few remaining prints is run through a projector, it runs a risk of irreparable damage.

My understanding was that the various rights holders were willing to allow free (limited) screenings of City of Sadness and Puppetmaster, but couldn't agree to any arrangement involving paid screenings.

That's weird... the Puppetmaster screening in Houston was definitely not free. Either they made a mistake, or we were technically paying $9 for the two-minute introduction by a UT professor.

That's weird... the Puppetmaster screening in Houston was definitely not free. Either they made a mistake, or we were technically paying $9 for the two-minute introduction by a UT professor.

It's the latter. The only thing they were able to finagle was a series of "educational screenings", which is why Suchenski gave a lecture with the film. Likewise, the upcoming showing of City of Sadness in Los Angeles accompanies a book signing by the lady who wrote the BFI Film Classics book.

26 Jun 2016

[For the MoMA screening], like the other films screened in 35mm this past week, it had the Bard logo, the print was fairly worn around the reel changes, and the blacks don't look quite as inky as they should, but the detail and the color still look quite good.

According to Richard Suchenski, and as discussed higher up in this thread, there's only one English-subtitled print of the film in existence, which dates to the 1990s. So it's highly likely we're talking about the very same print the rest of us saw last year, or a dupe of that print. (HHH's company has the film's negative, but can't do much with it until rights issues are clarified.)

FWIW, Apichatpong Weerasethakul was scheduled to give an intro to tonight's screening.

Did Suchenski say, or do you know, why the rights holders for these movies aren’t always interested in seeing them released?

[afilmcionado]

Does anyone know what is going on with the US/Europe rights for the City of Sadness restoration? I’m in Asia for a bit but I’m killing myself for having to miss all the remaining showings of the film

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

I fear the three-year embargo on video/streaming may keep it from getting wider distribution in the short term—theatrical runs are obviously important in and of themselves, but they're also a way to promote a forthcoming home release and that becomes less effective if there's a years-long window between the two. We know it's getting its Western festival premiere in April at the Udine Far East Fest (alongside The Puppetmaster), so I'm hoping we learn more after that.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Well, I have to thanks tenia for his wise advice otherwise I would not have pre-order Millenium Mambo - Spectrum UHD/BR title. If I have to vote for some Blu-Ray/UHD of the year, this one will be among by list. I'm French and I have been so disappointed by some French restoration recently that I tend to avoid everything which has been touched in my country.
I have a lot of HHH movies from various labels (MoC/Eureka, Criterion, etc...) and this is the best restoration which I have seen.

Which leads me to the question when you like Millenium Mambo and Shu Qui : is there any plan/hope that Spectrum could restore "Three Times"; this one is among my favorite (the third part can be look like a sequel from an alternate time of Millenium Mambo), but the first part of the movie is my favorite (and what an unforgettable amazing soundtrack). [-o<

Really sad news to read about HHH.

[Cipater]

Did the Puppetmaster restoration/digitization screen at Udine Far East as advertised? Has anybody written anything anywhere on the quality of the copy?

[andyli]

I checked the finalized program from their website. It appears that only the two Zhang-directed films were shown, instead of all five as originally announced. The rest probably need more time to complete and may be featured in future editions (purely my own speculation).

[Cipater]

I checked the finalized program from their website. It appears that only the two Zhang-directed films were shown, instead of all five as originally announced. The rest probably need more time to complete and may be featured in future editions (purely my own speculation).

Ah, thank you for checking! Personally, I doubt I'll ever get to see The Puppetmaster.

[yoloswegmaster]

I checked the finalized program from their website. It appears that only the two Zhang-directed films were shown, instead of all five as originally announced. The rest probably need more time to complete and may be featured in future editions (purely my own speculation).

That's surprising to hear since the "restoration" (really just a 4K scan) for A City of Sadness was finished a while ago and I'm fairly certain that it was already shown before. Maybe they really did do actual restorations for it.

[andyli]

The scan was completed a while ago. The restoration has only just started (at Ritrovata).

[yoloswegmaster]

That's interesting since I found this post from last year:

I'm a bit puzzled to see A City of Sadness in there, since a 4K remaster opened in Taiwan a few months ago and has had some festival and one-off screenings elsewhere in Asia. It's not a restoration, but then the official line is that the elements were not in such a condition to warrant one. So I'm curious if this really is a new restoration or if the FEFF is getting their wires crossed/indulging in some marketing hyperbole.

BTW, did you hear anything regarding the quality of the new restoration for Raise the Red Lantern at SIFF?

[andyli]

The general response is that it looks very good, being the only one not restored using AI in that 4K-restored section. It appears that Mr. Chiu had a change of mind on the need for restoration (of A City of Sadness). And that theatrical exclusivity thing might only apply to this one film (meaning To Live & Red Lantern could come much sooner.)

[Stefan Andersson]

Mention of A City of Sadness restoration:
https://web.theculvertheater.com/films/ ... HO00000519

Trailer with Era International logo:
https://thefilmstage.com/hou-hsiao-hsie ... storation/

https://topics.amcham.com.tw/2023/07/pr ... -heritage/

[Lowry_Sam]

[from Restorations thread]

Mention of A City of Sadness restoration:
https://web.theculvertheater.com/films/ ... HO00000519
Trailer with Era International logo:
https://thefilmstage.com/hou-hsiao-hsie ... storation/
https://topics.amcham.com.tw/2023/07/pr ... -heritage/

Anyone know why the 4K restoration of A City Of Sadness in Taiwan in 2023 took so long to get a screening in the US? Or was the October 4K screening in LA a new restoration?

A Google AI search generated this:

Limited availability: Despite the film's importance and recent 4K restoration, a consistent US release has been elusive due to complex rights issues.
Recent screenings: A 2025 showing at the Alula Film Festival in Los Angeles included the North American premiere of the restored version.
Rights holder: Producer Chiu Fu-sheng holds the rights and is reportedly insisting on theatrical release exclusivity until 2026.
Potential future release: Some speculate that companies like Criterion, who were involved in the restoration of other films from the same producer, may eventually be able to release it in the US once the rights are settled