In Our Time (1982 film)

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In Our Time
Directed byTao Te-chen
Edward Yang

Yi Chang[1]
Written byTao Te-chen
Edward Yang
Ko I-chen
Yi Chang
Produced byMing Che
CinematographyChen Chia-mao
Edited byLiao Ching-song
Music byChen Yunshan
Production
company
Release date
  • 28 August 1982 (1982-08-28)
Running time
100,[1] 106[2] or 109 minutes[3]
LanguagesMandarin
Southern Min

In Our Time (Chinese: 光陰的故事) is a 1982 Taiwanese anthology film directed by Edward Yang, Yi Chang, Ko I-Chen and Tao Te-Chen.[1] The film's four vignettes each take place in a different decade between 1950 and 1980 and depict characters at different points in their lives.[2] The film deals with a range of dramatic, comic, economic and social themes.[1][4]

The first two episodes are described as contemplative and dream-inspired, while the latter two episodes feature more dialogue and overt comedy.[3] The first segment, translated as "Dinosaurs"[5] or "Little Dragon Head",[3] is directed by Tao and follows a young boy who escapes from childhood bullying by retreating into a fantasy world populated by his dinosaur toys. The second segment, "Expectations" or "Desires",[4] is directed by Yang and stars Shi Anni as a young girl who becomes infatuated with an older man who is staying at her parents' house, but falls into a love triangle.[3] The third segment, "Leapfrog", is directed by Ko and follows a college student who deals with the pressures of life by joining a competitive swimming club.[3][5] The final segment, translated as "Show your ID"[5] or "Say Your Name",[3] is directed by Yi Chang and stars Sylvia Chang.[1] It follows a newly married couple who are accidentally locked out of their home and workplaces, to comedic effect.[3][5]

The film was produced by the Central Motion Picture Corporation, which had a reputation for conservative filmmaking.[4] Yang's segment was his second filmed work, after a TV movie he directed the previous year.[6][7] Writing in his eponymous book on Edward Yang, John Anderson described Yang's segment as bringing "an almost documentary content to the Taiwanese feature, which is counterbalanced in Expectations by Yang's decidedly poetic rhythms".[4] The Harvard Film Archive described the film as "eschew[ing] studio-bound escapism and melodrama in favor of a hard-hitting cinema grounded in everyday life".[2] The film is sometimes cited as the foundational film of the New Taiwan Cinema.[1][3][2]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy. "In Our Time". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "The Taiwan Stories of Edward Yang and Wu Nien-jen". Harvard Film Archive. Archived from the original on 24 May 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Hu, Brian. "In Our Time". World Cinema Directory. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d Anderson, John (April 2005). Edward Yang. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07236-9.
  5. ^ a b c d Yang, Jeff (2003). Once Upon a Time in China: a guide to Hong Kong, Taiwanese, and mainland Chinese cinema. New York: Atria Books. pp. 166–167. ISBN 978-0-7434-4817-8.
  6. ^ Berry, Michael (2005). Speaking in images : interviews with contemporary Chinese filmmakers. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 276. ISBN 0231133308.
  7. ^ Rosenbaum, Jonathan. "Floating Weeds". JonathanRosenbaum.net. Retrieved 19 June 2021.

External links[]


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