With their mother ailing in a Taipei hospital, two young children are sent to live in the countryside at their Grandfather's home. What begins as an idyllic summer full of fun in the sun soon dissipates, as the two young children capture glimpses of troubles among the adults. Hou Hsiao-hsien's A Summer At Grandpas may be the quintessential coming of age story, as it captures the illusion of childhood, a time where the darker and sadder aspects of life are hidden underneath youthful exuberance. A Summer At Grandpa's is especially impressive in how it manages the delicate balance between sadness and exuberance, shining just as bright in both categories, managing to be funny & emotionally poignant at the same time. This is a film that captures the mind of a child in vivid detail, the sense of wonder and excitment that can be found in even the mundane. There is darkness around them from various angles, from their mother's sickness to their uncle's trouble with the law, but what I found particularly compelling is the relationship the younger girl strikes up with a mentally handicapped woman, who is deeply sad due to the death of her child. This relationship is only a small part of this story, but how it evolves into a something remenscient of a mother/daughter relationship is poetic and beuatifully captured, with each of them able to create some semblance of what they are missing. The compositions in A Summer At Grandpas are also beautifully realized, with Hou Hsiao-hsien using hallways, doorways, and windows to give the film incredible depth of frame, almost as if he is trying to make the world feel bigger than it is, mimicking the eyes of a child. Through the eyes of a child, Hou Hsiao-hsien' captures the faults, ambitions, fears of the family, capturing the importance of family for the youth being the ones that instill morals and values. Elegant, charming, funny, and sad, Hou Hsiao-hsien's A Summer at Grandpa's is quiet, but a monumental work in cinema.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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