Known for Directing
Hou Hsiao-hsien (Chinese: 侯孝賢; pinyin: Hóu Xiàoxián) (born April 8, 1947) is a retired award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.
Born
April 8, 1947 (age 79)
Birthplace
Mei County, Guangdong, China
Filmography
99 films, 2 shows
The Assassin
2015 · 1h 45m
country: Hong Kong
9th century China. Ten year old general’s daughter Nie Yinniang is abducted by a nun who initiates her into the martial arts, transforming her into an exceptional assassin charged with eliminating cruel and corrupt local governors. One day, having failed in a task, she is sent back by her mistress to the land of her birth, with orders to kill the man to whom she was promised – a cousin who now leads the largest military region in North China. After 13 years of exile, the young woman must confront her parents, her memories and her long-repressed feelings.
10 Plus 10
2011 · 1h 54m
country: Taiwan
10+10 is a project initiated by the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival to demonstrate the solidarity between Taiwanese film-makers. 20 directors are invited to make a 5-minute short film each on the theme of the “Uniqueness of Taiwan,” but allowed total freedom in all other aspects.
In the Golden Age of Chinese Craftsmanship
2008 · 55m
country: Unknown
The essence of progress in civilization has always been handiwork. In traditional Chinese civilization, the emperor was supreme. Vested with the authority to enjoy the best of handiwork, all crafts used for residence, clothing, food, and travel were the most refined and splendid.
To Each His Own Cinema
2007 · 1h 40m
country: France
Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.
Flight of the Red Balloon
2007 · 1h 57m
country: France
The first part in a new series of films produced by Musée d'Orsay, 'Flight of the Red Balloon' tells the story of a French family as seen through the eyes of a Chinese student. The film was shot in August and September 2006 on location in Paris. This is Hou Hsiao-Hsien's first Western film. It is based on the classic French short The Red Balloon directed by Albert Lamorisse.
Three Times
2005 · 2h 10m
country: Taiwan
In three separate segments, set respectively in 1966, 1911, and 2005, three love stories unfold between three sets of characters, under three different periods of Taiwanese history and governance.
Café Lumière
2004 · 1h 43m
country: Japan
In a distinctly contemporary Tokyo that looks backwards to the city’s disappearing past, Yoko is a writer investigating the life of a modernist composer of the 1930s. She is pregnant by a man she does not want to marry and has found a kindred spirit in a used bookstore owner who aids her research.
Millennium Mambo
2001 · 1h 46m
country: Taiwan
Vicky recalls her romances with her exes Hao Hao and Jack in the neon-lit clubs of Taipei.
Flowers of Shanghai
1998 · 1h 53m
country: Taiwan
At the end of the 19th century, Shanghai is divided into several foreign concessions. In the British concession, a number of luxurious “flower houses” are reserved for the male elite of the city. Since Chinese dignitaries are not allowed to frequent brothels, these establishments are the only ones that these men can visit. They form a self-contained world, with its own rites, traditions and even its own language. The men don’t only visit the houses to frequent the courtesans but also to dine, smoke opium, play mahjong and relax. The women working there are known as the “flowers of Shanghai”.
Goodbye South, Goodbye
1996 · 1h 56m
country: Taiwan
In this portrait of small-time hoods rendered in rhythm-of-life anecdotal detail, Gao is the leader of a circle of layabouts including his sidekick, Flathead, and their girlfriends, Pretzel and Ling. He is also the originator of petty crime schemes, which promise to get the gang nowhere fast.
Good Men, Good Women
1995 · 1h 48m
country: Japan
An actress preparing to play in a historical epic is terrorized by someone faxing her pages from her stolen diary; has colorful flashbacks of her affair with a now-deceased man; and imagines black-and-white film-within-a-film scenes of the movie she is about to appear in.
The Puppetmaster
1993 · 2h 23m
country: Taiwan
Master puppeteer Li Tien-lu recalls his life in Japanese-occupied Taiwan during the first half of the 20th century.
A City of Sadness
1989 · 2h 38m
country: Hong Kong
The story of a family embroiled in the "White Terror," the Kuomintang government's anti-communist political repression that was wrought on the Taiwanese people from 1947-1987.
Daughter of the Nile
1987 · 1h 31m
country: Taiwan
Lin Hsiao-yang tries to keep her family together while working as a waitress at Kentucky Fried Chicken and going to night school. With no mother and her father currently working out of town, it is up to Lin Hsiao-yang to take care of her younger siblings, who are slipping into a life of crime.
Adult Game
1986 · 1h 14m
country: Taiwan
Direct-to-video music film co-directed by three major figures of the Taiwanese New Cinema featuring song by Edward Yang’s then wife Tsai Chin.
Dust in the Wind
1986 · 1h 49m
country: Taiwan
A-yuan and A-yun are both from the small mining town of Jio-fen. They move to Taipei, where A-yuan is an apprentice by day and goes to night school, and A-yun works as a helper at a tailors. Everyone thinks they are meant for each other, and so do they. They fail to see time and fate are beyond their control.
The Time to Live and the Time to Die
1985 · 2h 16m
country: Taiwan
An autobiographical film based on Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien's memories of his youth growing up in Taiwan after emigrating from mainland China.
A Summer at Grandpa's
1984 · 1h 33m
country: Taiwan
A coming-of-age story about a young brother and sister whom spend a pivotal summer in the country with their grandparents.
The Sandwich Man
1983 · 1h 45m
country: Taiwan
Composed of three separate stories, the film vividly portrays Taiwan during the cold war period when the country developed its economy with help from the United States.
The Boys from Fengkuei
1983 · 1h 38m
country: Taiwan
Ah-Ching and his friends have just finished school in their island fishing village, and now spend most of their time drinking and fighting. Three of them decide to go to the port city of Kaohsiung to look for work. They find an apartment through relatives, and Ah-Ching is attracted to the girlfriend of a neighbor. There they face the harsh realities of the big city.
The Green, Green Grass of Home
1982 · 1h 31m
country: Taiwan
A substitute teacher from Taipei arrives in a country village to teach a class of mischievous students. He soon falls in love with nature, country life and a fellow teacher at the school.
Play While You Play
1981 · 1h 30m
country: Taiwan
A photographer travels with her boyfriend to a seaside village in Penghu. There she strikes up a relationship with a blind man. When they reencounter one another back in Taipei, where he is preparing to undergo an operation to restore his sight, their connection intensifies.
Cute Girl
1980 · 1h 30m
country: Taiwan
The daughter of a wealthy man takes French lessons so she can go to France with her fiancée, but ends up falling for a poor man who studies civil engineering.