MUBI

I’ve been thinking about Hou and wondering why I don’t like him. I’ve seen 11 of his films now and there’s not a single one I would want to watch again. They’re all in that blah, not-bad-not-great 6-to-8 range on the 10-point scale. His movies just seem like a whole lot of nothing to me. This one is about four brothers (actually three, because one is presumed dead) in postwar Taiwan, which is transitioning from Japanese tyranny to Chinese tyranny. Two of the brothers are aspiring gangsters (as is, I think, their father), and the third is a sensitive deaf-mute photographer. As is often the case with his stories, it takes a while to figure out who everyone is and what their relations are to each other. A lot of it centers around the “White Terror” massacre in February 1947 and the ensuing oppression. The movie has been likened to a Taiwanese Godfather, which I guess is reasonable. It does have a kind of epic sweep to it, and plotwise, it’s actually pretty substantial for a Hou film. There’s certainly a lot of sadness going on… unfortunately, once again it didn’t resonate much with me. It has some nice moments, and is perfectly competent filmmaking. I didn’t hate watching it. I even cared about some of the characters. But my overall impression is… not-bad-not-great.