Hsiao-hsien Hou's first film in several years that saw him return to the urban setting, Daughter of the Nile uses gangster tropes to tell a introspective drama, having a lot to say about the urban lifestyle. The first thing that jumped out to me about Daughter of the Nile is the abundance of pop music in what seemed like every scene of the film, almost like Hou is using it as a canvas to create this tale. The music combined with Hou's array of static compositions that showcase the neon-light soaked cityscape, Daughter of the Nile feels somewhat frantic, at least for a Hsiao-hsien Hou film. Its still done with elegance and care, as Hou seems to be doing this to capture the hustle and bustle of urban life. The story is mostly centered around Lin Hsiao-yang, who spends her time taking care of her younger sister and grandfather. When not caring after them, she spends her nights out on the town with her friends, at clubs and beaches, living the life of most 20-something American girls. Her brother is a gangster, working with his friends out of a restaurant they own together. With him barely around, Lin Hsiao-yang's lives in constant fear, not for her life but his or anyone else she know due to her affiliations by association. She is a character who cann't deal losing anyone else in her life. Daughter of the Nile uses this gangster tale to be a film about departure and loss, both physically and emotionallly, with intimacy and scale. Hsiao-hsien Hou creates a devastating portrait of a woman who sees loss all around her, using a very powerful opening sequence at the start, centered around her mother's death. I particularly liked how Daughter of the Nile isn't just about physical death but the loss of friendship or companionship, as Lin Hsiao-yang is even focusing on her friends leaving the city, with Hou seemingly commenting on the fast city lifestlye of moving from place to place. Examing further, Daughter of the Nile exposes Lin Hsiao-Yang as a woman who has completely lost a void with the death of her mother, something that her tough guy brother and father, who have a very rocky relationship, can't fill. With his elegant filmmaking style, Hsiao-hsien Hou's Daughter of the Nile is a unique gangster tale, introspective in may ways about loss and urban decay
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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