Underplayed Gems

The Boys from Fengkuei (1983)

The Boys from Fengkuei poster
Original title
風櫃來的人
Directed by
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Genre
drama film
Country
Taiwan
Runtime
1h 41m
Rating
7.2 of 10 from 66 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like thisWatch the trailer

or watch the trailer on YouTube

How it feels

A group of bored teenagers in a small fishing town cause trouble while waiting to join the army. They move to the big city of Kaohsiung and face the harsh realities of adulthood.

nostalgicrestlessmelancholicrawobservationalatmosphericbittersweetcoming-of-ageslow-paced

What happens

The Boys from Fengkuei (Chinese: 風櫃來的人), also known as All the Youthful Days, is a 1983 Taiwanese film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. The movie is about a group of impulsive teenagers with nothing to do and high energy. While waiting to be enlisted in the army, they cause trouble in their hometown, Fengkuei, and run away from Penghu to Kaohsiung. From a small town to a big city, through the depression and turmoil of youth they experience unforgettable life scenery and gradually recede from their original youthfulness. It was Hou Hsiao-hsien's first art film after he directed three light comedies in the early eighties and a representative work of the Taiwan New Cinema at its inception. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.