Hou Hsiao-hsien facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hou Hsiao-hsien
Hou in February 2016 at a screening of The Assassin at the Cinémathèque Française.
Born	(1947-04-08) 8 April 1947 (age 78) Meixian County, Guangdong, Republic of China
Occupation	Film director Screenwriter Producer Actor
Spouse(s)	Tsao Pao-feng
Children	1
Awards	Golden Lion : 1989 A City of Sadness Jury Prize (Cannes Film Festival) : 1993 The Puppetmaster Leopard of Honour : 2007 Best Director Award (Cannes Film Festival) : 2015 The Assassin Golden Horse Awards – Best Feature Film 2015 The Assassin Best Adapted Screenplay 1983 Growing Up 1984 Ah Fei Best Original Screenplay 1985 The Time to Live and the Time to Die Best Director 1989 A City of Sadness 1995 Good Men, Good Women 2015 The Assassin Best Taiwanese Filmmaker of the Year 2005 Three Times 2015 The Assassin Lifetime Achievement Award 2020
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	侯孝賢
Simplified Chinese	侯孝贤
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Hóu Xiàoxián Wade–Giles Hou2 Hsiao4-hsien2 IPA [xǒu̯ ɕi̯âu̯.ɕi̯ɛ̌n] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Hàuh Haau-Yìhn Jyutping Hau4 Haau3 Jin4 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Hâu Hàu-hiân

Hou Hsiao-hsien (born April 8, 1947) is a famous film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor from Taiwan. He is known as a very important person in world cinema and a leader in Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement. This movement brought new ideas and styles to filmmaking.

Hou has won many top awards for his movies. He won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 1989 for his film A City of Sadness. He also won the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival in 2015 for The Assassin. Other well-known films he directed include The Puppetmaster (1993) and Flowers of Shanghai (1998).

Many film critics have praised Hou's work. He was even called "Director of the Decade" for the 1990s by important film magazines. In 1998, a poll of critics said he was "one of the three directors most crucial to the future of cinema."

Life and Career

Hou in 1989

Hou Hsiao-hsien was born in Meixian District, Guangdong, China, in 1947. His family moved to Taiwan when he was very young. He studied at the National Taiwan University of Arts.

Hou is known for making serious and beautiful films. These films often show how big changes in Taiwanese history affected regular people. For example, his film A City of Sadness (1989) tells the story of a family during a difficult time in Taiwan after World War II. This film was brave because it talked about the February 28 Incident and the White Terror, which were events where many Taiwanese people suffered under the new government. This film was a huge success and was the first Taiwanese movie to win the top prize at the Venice Film Festival.

His movies often use very long shots with little camera movement. He lets actors improvise a lot, which means they make up some of their lines as they go. This makes the acting feel very natural. Hou has often worked with writer Chu T’ien-wen and famous puppeteer Li Tian-lu, who even acted in some of his films, like The Puppetmaster.

Hou's films have won awards at major international festivals like Venice, Cannes, and Berlin. Six of his films have been nominated for the Palme d'Or, which is the top award at the Cannes Film Festival.

In 2003, Hou directed a Japanese film called Café Lumière. It was a tribute to a famous Japanese director named Yasujirō Ozu. His 2005 film Three Times tells three different love stories from different time periods, using the same two actors.

In 2007, Hou made his first film outside of Asia, called Flight of the Red Balloon. It was filmed in France and starred French actress Juliette Binoche. In 2015, he won the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival for his film The Assassin.

Hou has also acted in a few films. He played the main character in Taipei Story (1984), a film by another important Taiwanese director, Edward Yang.

Films Directed

Hou Hsiao-hsien has directed 18 feature films and three short film segments. He also wrote or co-wrote many of these films.

Feature Films

Early Films (1980-1982)

Hou's first film as a director was Cute Girl (1980), a romantic comedy. He also directed Cheerful Wind (1981) and The Green, Green Grass of Home [zh] (1982). These early films helped him develop his unique style.

The Boys from Fengkuei (1983)

This film showed the beginning of Hou's special filmmaking style. It focused on young people and life in small towns. The story is about a group of boys from a fishing village who move to a big city to find work and face new challenges. The film won an award at the Nantes Three Continents Festival.

The "Coming of Age" Trilogy (1984-1987)

This group of films explores growing up. It includes:

• A Summer at Grandpa's (1984)
• A Time to Live, A Time to Die (1985)
• Daughter of the Nile (1987)

A Time to Live, A Time to Die was one of Hou's first films to gain international attention. It won many awards around the world.

The Taiwan Trilogy (1986-1993)

This important series of films explores Taiwan's history and identity. It includes:

• Dust in the Wind (1986)
• A City of Sadness (1989)
• The Puppetmaster (1993)

A City of Sadness was a groundbreaking film because it was the first to openly discuss the difficult period of Kuomintang rule in Taiwan after World War II. It won the top prize, the Golden Lion, at the Venice Film Festival. The Puppetmaster is a unique film that combines documentary and storytelling to tell the life story of a famous Taiwanese puppeteer. It won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Urban Youth Trilogy (1995-2001)

This group of films focuses on young people living in cities. It includes:

• Good Men, Good Women (1995)
• Goodbye South, Goodbye (1996)
• Millennium Mambo (2001)

Millennium Mambo was the first film where Hou worked with actress Shu Qi, who would become a frequent collaborator.

Later Films (2003-2015)

• Café Lumière (2003): A Japanese film that was a tribute to director Yasujirō Ozu.
• Three Times (2005): This film tells three love stories set in different time periods, starring Shu Qi and Chang Chen. It won Best Actress for Shu Qi at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards.
• Flight of the Red Balloon (2007): Hou's first film made in France, starring Juliette Binoche.
• The Assassin (2015): This martial arts film won Hou the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival. It also won many awards at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, including Best Feature Film.

Short Film Segments

Hou has also directed short films that are part of larger collections of films. These include a segment in The Sandwich Man (1983), "The Electric Princess House" in To Each His Own Cinema (2007), and "La Belle Epoque" in 10+10 [zh] (2011).

Writing

Hou has written or co-written many films, including 8 of the films he directed. He also helped write films directed by others, like Edward Yang's Taipei Story (1985), in which Hou also acted.

Producing

Hou has worked as a producer or executive producer on 14 films. This means he helped manage the making of these films. One notable film he produced was Zhang Yimou's Raise the Red Lantern (1991), which was nominated for an Oscar. He also produced Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above (2013), a documentary that won an award.

Acting

Hou has acted in four films. His most famous acting role was playing the main character, Lung, in Edward Yang's Taipei Story (1985). He also had a small role in the high school comedy Young Style (2013).

Personal Life

Hou Hsiao-hsien is married to Tsao Pao-feng, who also worked as a producer on his film Flight of the Red Balloon. They have one daughter.

Hou was born in mainland China and moved to Taiwan as a child. He has said that he will "always be Chinese, no matter where I am."

In October 2023, it was announced that Hou Hsiao-hsien has Alzheimer's disease and has retired from making films.

Filmography

As director

As producer

As actor / himself

See also

In Spanish: Hou Hsiao-Hsien para niños