戀戀風塵 - Dust In The Wind

戀戀風塵 (Dust In The Wind) is an 1986 film out of Taiwan. The movie stars Wang Chien-wen and Xin Shufen. The movie is directed by acclaimed Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

Two young high schoolers are best friends growing up. They both decide to move to Taipei to make a "better" life for themselves. When things get rough, the male protagonist goes to the army. After being released from the army, he finds that the girl is now married to an local post man. Devastated, he much pick up life without her and live in regret.

What can I say, it is an Hou Hsiao-Hsien film through and through. Look takes, lots of walking, lots of seeing people do things, and far shots. Hou does far shots because he uses new people that are "shy" in front of the camera. The far shots are for their benefit. They can relax and just do the scene. For us, we go, "why are they so far away, I can hardly see their faces!" In this movie, we get plenty of that. Far shots, people waiting for things. It is like watching a slice of some people's lives through the cafe window. But I love it. I get ready for Hou's film. I say to myself, what is he trying to say. I liked this film a lot because it was from the 80s and it was during that time that Taiwan started to make a name for itself internationally for its computer smarts.