RoweReviews
  • Viewing Log / Reviews
  • Search
  • Ramblings
  • Contact Me

Growing Up (1983) - Chen Kun-Hou

10/21/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Inscribed with the poetic film grammar and understated formal stylings of the Taiwanese New Wave which would later be perfected by the likes of Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang, Growing Up remains, in a sense, intrinsically restrained by its early pioneering status. Stuck between Hollywood modes of filmmaking - which had major influence given the pervasive transnational influence of American culture - and the emergence of a new mode of storytelling entirely, Growing Up traverses the coming of age archetype through what I'd characterize as a muted version of what would be formalized to perfection later by such masterworks of the Taiwanese New Wave as A Brighter Summer Day and Dust in the Wind, among others.  The innocence of youth - its naivety, and exuberance, both of which are intrinsically malleable to external forces - is a utility for these filmmakers to elucidate the specificity, both temporally and spatially, of Taiwan in which themes about the generational and cultural social divisions born out of diaspora and the subsequent search for identity have long become central nodes which calcify, conceptually, the Taiwanese New Wave.  Growing Up is doesn't reach the same heights for me, yet it remains an emotionally effective, structurally efficient, and deeply tragic coming of a story in its own right, which in retrospect deserves perhaps more credit for helping launch the Taiwanese New Wave​
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Love of all things cinema brought me here.  

    Archives

    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Viewing Log / Reviews
  • Search
  • Ramblings
  • Contact Me