Oct. 19/21

1. After World War II Taiwan's government affairs were transfered back to China after fifty years of colonial rule by Japan. After the fifty years of colonial rule Taiwan developed more Japanese cultural traits including language. This made communication difficult between the Taiwanese citizens and their new government, and soon after the new corrupt national government disallowed native Taiwanese citizens political power. On February 27, 1947 a group of policemen and officials from the government tobacco monopoly assaulted a women while trying to confiscate her smuggled cigarettes. The native Taiwanese population was outraged, and the next day, February 28, 1947, rebellions started across Taiwan. The national government brutally smashed the rebellion and arrested and executed anyone they thought capable of leading another rebellion. Some 18-20,000 Taiwanese citizens were killed.

2. City of Sadness was criticized by a select group of film critics because they did not agree with the way Hou depicted the history of Taiwan during that time period. The way I read it was Hou danced around the historic issues of the time, and instead of using the film to sternly comment on the events of that period Hou tip-toed around it by making the film more of a melodrama. Although they criticize Hou for being "ambiguous" I don't see how he could make a historically accurate film if the public doesn't even know the extent of what happened.

3. To be continued...