Execution in Autumn

Pei Gang, the only male child of a well off family for three generations, is found responsible for the deaths of three people and sentenced to die. But because in Chinese practice executions were carried out only in autumn, the man has to wait in his cell for close to a year. His grandmother, who raised him alone and gave him everything he asked for, does not stop through that time: she pleads with officials, offers bribes, makes threats and tries every route to keep the line going. As the waiting lengthens, both the grandson and the family change. Lee Hsing’s ninety nine minute Taiwanese film puts the patriarchal order at the centre of its account. Ou Wei and Tang Pao-Yun appear; it was completed in 1972 and won in five categories at the Golden Horse awards.