Good Men, Good Women
Encyclopedia
Good Men, Good Women is a 1995 Taiwanese film directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
, starring Annie Shizuka Inoh
, Lim Giong
and Jack Kao
. It is the last installment in the trilogy that began with A City of Sadness
(1989) and continued with The Puppetmaster
(1993). Like its predecessors, it deals with the complicated issues of Taiwanese history and national identity.
). In the 1940s, she and her newlywed husband, Chung Hao-Tung (Giong Lim), head to mainland China
to join the anti-Japanese resistance. During the war, she is forced to give her baby for adoption. After the war they return to Taiwan, as Chung is to distribute a communist paper called "The Enlightenment". However, as the Korean War
deepens, Chiang Kai-Shek
's Kuomintang
regime intensifies the White Terror
and Chung is eventually executed.
The film consists of three intermingling storylines and scattered throughout the film are interludes of an actress (also played by Inoh) who prepares for the role of Chiang Bi-Yu, and also confronts her deceased boyfriend's past.
.
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
, starring Annie Shizuka Inoh
Annie Shizuka Inoh
Annie Yi is a singer, a writer and an actress from Republic of China . Born on March 4, 1969 in Taipei with the birthname of Wu Jingyi , she changed her name after her mother remarried, to a Japanese man and then simplified it to Yi Nengjing upon returning to Taiwan in 1988 to launch her singing...
, Lim Giong
Lim Giong
Lim Giong is a musician, artist, DJ, composer, songwriter, music producer, music director and also an actor.Now, he is a leading figure on the Taiwanese experimental electronic music scene....
and Jack Kao
Jack Kao
Jack Kao is a Taiwanese actor. He began his career in the late 1980s films of Hou Hsiao-Hsien.-Filmography:*Daughter of the Nile *Rouge of The North *A City of Sadness *Island of Fire *Dust of Angels...
. It is the last installment in the trilogy that began with A City of Sadness
A City of Sadness
A City of Sadness is a 1989 Taiwanese historical drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It tells the story of a family embroiled in the tragic "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s, during...
(1989) and continued with The Puppetmaster
The Puppetmaster (film)
The Puppetmaster is a 1993 Taiwanese film directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien. Based on the memoirs of Li Tian-lu, Taiwan’s most celebrated puppeteer, this story covers the years from Li’s birth in 1909 to the end of Japan’s fifty-year occupation of Taiwan in 1945.-Plot:It tells the story of Li Tian-lu...
(1993). Like its predecessors, it deals with the complicated issues of Taiwanese history and national identity.
Plot
The film depicts the real life story of Chiang Bi-Yu (Annie Shizuka InohAnnie Shizuka Inoh
Annie Yi is a singer, a writer and an actress from Republic of China . Born on March 4, 1969 in Taipei with the birthname of Wu Jingyi , she changed her name after her mother remarried, to a Japanese man and then simplified it to Yi Nengjing upon returning to Taiwan in 1988 to launch her singing...
). In the 1940s, she and her newlywed husband, Chung Hao-Tung (Giong Lim), head to mainland China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to join the anti-Japanese resistance. During the war, she is forced to give her baby for adoption. After the war they return to Taiwan, as Chung is to distribute a communist paper called "The Enlightenment". However, as the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
deepens, Chiang Kai-Shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
's Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
regime intensifies the White Terror
White Terror (Taiwan)
In Taiwan, the White Terror describes the suppression of political dissidents, as well as public discussion of the 228 Incident in Taiwan under the period of martial law, which lasted from May 19 1949 to July 15 1987, 38 years, and 57 days...
and Chung is eventually executed.
The film consists of three intermingling storylines and scattered throughout the film are interludes of an actress (also played by Inoh) who prepares for the role of Chiang Bi-Yu, and also confronts her deceased boyfriend's past.
Cast
- Annie Shizuka InohAnnie Shizuka InohAnnie Yi is a singer, a writer and an actress from Republic of China . Born on March 4, 1969 in Taipei with the birthname of Wu Jingyi , she changed her name after her mother remarried, to a Japanese man and then simplified it to Yi Nengjing upon returning to Taiwan in 1988 to launch her singing...
- Liang Ching / Chiang Bi-Yu - Giong Lim - Chung Hao-Tung
- Jack KaoJack KaoJack Kao is a Taiwanese actor. He began his career in the late 1980s films of Hou Hsiao-Hsien.-Filmography:*Daughter of the Nile *Rouge of The North *A City of Sadness *Island of Fire *Dust of Angels...
- Ah Wel - Hsi Hsiang - Ah Hsi
- Bo-Chow Lan - Hsiao Dao-Ying
- Li-Chin Lu - Mrs. Hslao
- Chen-Nan Tsai - Ah Nan
- Vicky Wei - Liang Ching's Sister
Awards
Good Men, Good Women won the Golden Horse Award (1995), and was shown in the Cannes Film Festival1995 Cannes Film Festival
-Jury:*Jeanne Moreau *Gianni Amelio *Jean-Claude Brialy *Nadine Gordimer *Gaston Kabore *Michele-Ray Gavras *Emilio Garcia Riera *Philippe Rousselot *John Waters...
.