The movie conveys the director's intensely personal struggle at the crossroads of large-scale history and private memory; with understatedly bitter irony, he depicts the birth of a nation at the price of a family's dissolution.
Free account saves your watchlist and ratings.
A City of Sadness
Overview
The story of a family embroiled in the "White Terror," the Kuomintang government's anti-communist political repression that was wrought on the Taiwanese people from 1947-1987.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
A City of Sadness is a great film, one that will be watched as long as there are people who care about the movies as an art.
Hou turns in a masterpiece of small gestures and massive resonance; once you surrender to its spell, the obscurities vanish.
It is worth the long wait for the resonance of 'A City of Sadness to emerge.
Beautiful family saga by the great Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien.
More films
Radium Girls (2020)
Drama · History · Not Rated
Young women toiling in a factory are exposed to hazardous material which takes a disastrous toll on their health.
- Runtime
- 1h 42m
- Director
- Lydia Dean Pilcher, Ginny Mohler
- Cast
- Joey King, Abby Quinn, Cara Seymour
Munich - The Edge of War (2021)
Drama · History · PG-13
At the tense 1938 Munich Conference, former friends who now work for opposing governments become reluctant spies racing to expose a Nazi secret.
- Runtime
- 2h 10m
- Director
- Christian Schwochow
- Cast
- George MacKay, Jannis Niewöhner, Jeremy Irons
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011)
Drama · History · PG-13
A story set in 19th century China and centered on the lifelong friendship between two girls who develop their own secret code as a way to contend with the rigid cultural norms imposed on women.
- Runtime
- 1h 44m
- Director
- Wayne Wang
- Cast
- Li Bingbing, Gianna Jun, Hugh Jackman
Belfast (2021)
Drama · History · PG-13
Buddy is a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, whose life is filled with familial love, childhood hijinks, and a blossoming romance. Yet, with his beloved hometown caught up in increasing turmoil, his family faces a momentous choice: hope the conflict will pass or leave everything they know behind for a new life.
- Runtime
- 1h 38m
- Director
- Kenneth Branagh
- Cast
- Jude Hill, Jamie Dornan, Caitríona Balfe
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Crime · Drama · Thriller · R
Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as...
- Runtime
- 1h 59m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn
Philadelphia (1993)
Drama · PG-13
Two lawyers join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops, their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.
- Runtime
- 2h 6m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Mystery · Thriller · R
Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw, now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he remembers him being. As Marco's doubts deepen, Shaw's political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mys...
- Runtime
- 2h 10m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber
Stop Making Sense (1984)
Documentary · Music · PG
A concert film documenting Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, on tour for their 1983 album "Speaking in Tongues." The band takes the stage one by one and is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning and cinematic performance that features creative choreography and visuals.
- Runtime
- 1h 28m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison
Something Wild (1986)
Comedy · Crime · Romance · R
A free-spirited woman "kidnaps" a yuppie for a weekend of adventure. But the fun quickly takes a dangerous turn when her ex-con husband shows up.
- Runtime
- 1h 54m
- Director
- Jonathan Demme
- Cast
- Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta











Comments
Talk about the film with other members