Good Men, Good Women

Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest directors in the history of cinema
Review: GOOD MEN GOOD WOMEN is the third part of his Taiwan-trilogy (which is in all respects with Ritwik Ghataks refugee trilogy the greatest trilogy in the history of cinema). And this film is a masterpiece like THE PUPPETMASTER or A CITY OF SADNESS. It proofs again that Hou is probably one of the last great stylists in cinema. He re-etablished the long shots (what the French call plan sequence) and he is probably the master of this long shots. GOOD MEN; GOOD WOMEN is Hous most emotional film and a strong reflection about film making (this film is a film in a film) and his most complex film, told in at least three different time levels. And again I feel that Hou began there where Orson Welles stopped or had to stop because of his producers. Beside that, we find as well in this film one of the outstanding performances of an actress of the Nineties: Annie Shizuka-Inoh who interpreted one of the deepest female characters I have ever seen in a film by a male director. And she brings two diferent styles together in her acting: the exhibitionistic play of Chaplin and the introverted play of Ozus favorite actor Chishu Ryu. For my side it is Hous most moving film and it complets this outstanding trilogy in its deep wise reflection on history and cinema as well.
Hou is not just a good director; he belongs to the greatest directors in the history of cinema beside Ozu, Ford, Ghatak, Renoir or Hitchcock.

Rating:
Summary: Best of Hou.
Review: For me, this is the best application of Hou's rigorous formality. His long-take style and the manner in which three generations of Taiwan are woven through one character are breathtaking. It's amazing to watch the shots echo and reflect each other, while the lives of the characters do the same. (My favorite: a shot in the bedroom, using a mirror. The scene builds to sex between the two leads. Later, a discussion in the same room, shot the same way, with a conversation concerning parenthood and abortion.) This is certainly not for all tastes, but is unquestionably a masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: Best of Hou.
Review: For me, this is the best application of Hou's rigorous formality. His long-take style and the manner in which three generations of Taiwan are woven through one character are breathtaking. It's amazing to watch the shots echo and reflect each other, while the lives of the characters do the same. (My favorite: a shot in the bedroom, using a mirror. The scene builds to sex between the two leads. Later, a discussion in the same room, shot the same way, with a conversation concerning parenthood and abortion.) This is certainly not for all tastes, but is unquestionably a masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: Not for all tastes, but great in my opinion
Review: Like the films of Ozu, Dreyer, or Von Trier, Hou Hsiao-Hsien's films tend to alienate a good portion of their audiences and turn the others into raving mad fanatics of the director's work. I'm definitely one of the fanatics.

Good Men Good Women is one of Hou's more ambitious films. It, like the Puppetmaster, attempts to meld the lives of its main character to the history of the period of Taiwan in which that character lived. In this film, Hou examines the life of an actress in the present day as she prepares for her next role as an anti-Japanese freedom fighter who was of some national acclaim in the 1940's and 1950's. The film freely changes time periods between the modern day actress's life, the life of the freedom fighter she's playing, the actress's own past, and the actress's conception of her role in outtakes from the film she's to shoot. This is somewhat confusing, as the film expects you to put it all together yourself, but the answers are all there for you to find.

The film's acting and pacing are similar to other films by Hou, but the film is shorter than most of his others, which might make it a great introduction to his work. I'd reccomend it highly to anyone though, as it proves challenging, artistic, politically bold films are still being made.