A Summer at Grandpa's

Because their mother is critically ill in hospital, a brother and sister spend the summer in the country with their grandparents. Tung-tung is about ten; his sister is younger. Almost nothing happens to them in the town: they swim in the river, wander to the railway tracks, and witness the affairs of the adults from a distance. The subject is not childhood but a child only being able to see the adult world in fragments. A theft, a pregnancy and an incident involving a woman who is not of sound mind take place in the town; the children understand none of it fully and the film does not explain. The uncomprehending gaze determines the form. The form is distant and still. The camera rarely comes close, scenes are given in long takes, and much of the action happens at the edge of the frame. Hou Hsiao-hsien's mature manner is clearly settled here. The film rests on the childhood memories of his writing partner Chu Tien-wen. It won best director at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival in 1984 and the top prize at the Three Continents Festival in Nantes in 1985, and was also awarded at Locarno. Wong Kai-Gwong and Lee Suk-Ching play the children. Who it is for: viewers who like Taiwanese cinema and calm narratives built on childhood. Who it is not for: anyone looking for plot; the film is deliberately scattered and reaches no conclusion.