A Borrowed Life (1994)

Original title

多桑

Directed by

Wu Nien-jen

Genre

drama film

Country

Taiwan

Runtime

2h 47m

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 15 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

The film follows a Taiwanese family from the perspective of a boy growing up. It shows the cultural and political changes in Taiwan after Japanese rule ended and the Kuomintang took over. The story focuses heavily on the father and son relationship.

personalnostalgicslow-pacedreflectiveintimatemelancholicobservationalgrounded

What happens

A Borrowed Life (Chinese: 多桑; pinyin: Duōsāng) is a 1994 Taiwanese film and the directorial debut of Wu Nien-jen. The film depicts cultural and regime change in Taiwan. The film's running time is 167 minutes. Reviews by Ken Eisner in Variety and Stephen Holden in The New York Times noted that the film was autobiographical and told largely from the perspective of director Wu Nien-jen as a child. Eisner was critical of the film for its excessive focus on the father-son relationship, which left other characters' viewpoints unexplored. Chen Kuan-Hsing examined languages and dialects used in the film, linking differences to the cultural changes portrayed within, as Japanese rule was lifted and the Kuomintang assumed control of Taiwan. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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