"The hardest thing is not losing, but never being able to go back to how things once were..." 37 Years Later, We Finally Understand Why This Taiwanese Masterpiece Is a Cinematic Classic

Some films have a single person as their true protagonist. In A City of Sadness, however, the protagonist is not the Lin family, nor is it Lin Wen-ching. The real protagonist is the era itself — an era that no one can resist.

When first watching A City of Sadness, many viewers find its pace slow, its characters numerous, and certain scenes difficult to fully grasp. But years later, upon rewatching, one begins to realize that what the film truly leaves behind is not a dramatic conflict or a historical event, but the quiet truth that when an era begins to change, even ordinary people lose control over their own destinies.

Released in 1989 and directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, A City of Sadness stars Tony Leung, Hsin Shu-fen, Chen Sung-young, and Li Tian-lu. Set in Taiwan between 1945 and 1949, it follows the fates of the four Lin brothers, portraying the dramatic social upheaval after the war and how an ordinary family gradually loses their former way of life amid the tides of history.

Not only was it the first Taiwanese film to win the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, but it is also considered one of the most important classics in Taiwanese cinema. Even decades after its release, many viewers believe A City of Sadness is a film that becomes easier to understand with age.

What is A City of Sadness really about? A family, merely a reflection of the era

The story begins with Japan’s defeat and the end of World War II. People who had hoped for a new life are soon met with another wave of drastic change. Social tensions rise rapidly, suspicion spreads among people, and the four Lin brothers are each pushed by fate onto vastly different life paths.

One strives to support the family, another gets entangled in local power struggles, one silently accepts their fate, and another clings to the belief that as long as the family remains together, life can begin anew.

Yet they eventually realize that what truly changes their lives is not their own choices, but the choices made by the era. The Lin family’s story, while appearing to be about one household, actually reflects the fates of countless ordinary people.

Why does A City of Sadness feel so heavy? Because it doesn’t dramatize sorrow

For many viewers, the most striking impression upon first watching A City of Sadness is not shock, but stillness. The film avoids exaggerated emotions and rarely features hysterical outbursts. The characters continue to eat, work, marry, and fall ill — their daily lives appear no different from ordinary existence.

Yet within this mundane routine, someone suddenly disappears, someone never returns home, and someone quietly loses the life they once knew.

Hou Hsiao-hsien never tells the audience when to cry. He simply records, in silence, the slow, irreversible changes that unfold in people’s lives. Because of this, the sorrow it evokes feels more authentic.

Why is Tony Leung’s portrayal of Lin Wen-ching so unforgettable?

In the film, Tony Leung’s character Lin Wen-ching is one of the most memorable figures for many viewers. Deaf and mute, he communicates only through writing, eye contact, and facial expressions.

Over the years, many have come to see this not merely as a character trait, but as the film’s most powerful symbol. When so much cannot be spoken aloud and so many emotions remain unexpressed, silence becomes a way of survival.

Only after rewatching years later do many realize that the true heartbreak of the film is not that Wen-ching cannot speak, but that in that era, so many people had things they wanted to say — yet never got the chance.

What A City of Sadness truly wanted to capture was not history, but the people within it

Many first encounter A City of Sadness believing it to be a historical film. Yet what moves audiences is not the historical events themselves, but the lives of ordinary people caught within them.

The Lin brothers have no power to change the era, nor are they heroes who save the world. Like most people, they simply want to care for their family, live peacefully, and hope for safety.

But as the political climate shifts, even the most ordinary person cannot remain untouched. Some lose their families, some lose their freedom, and others lose the everyday life they thought would never change.

The film does not rush to judge who is right or wrong. Instead, it shows the audience how small individual fates appear in the face of overwhelming historical currents.

Why is A City of Sadness still worth rewatching decades later?

A City of Sadness lacks flashy storytelling or deliberately crafted tear-jerking scenes. On first viewing, many focus on the historical backdrop; years later, they begin to understand the characters’ silence; and after more life experience, they finally grasp that the true protagonist was never the four Lin brothers.

It was the era — one that no one could escape. The Lin family’s story may end, but the scars left by that era remain embedded in the lives of countless ordinary people.

What A City of Sadness ultimately leaves behind is not a political incident or a character’s personal tragedy, but the profound realization that history is not just dates in a textbook — it is the countless lives of ordinary people who simply wanted to live in peace, yet were all pushed onto different paths by the tides of time.

Years later, looking back, we realize that A City of Sadness was never just a title. It is a record not of a city’s sorrow, but of how an entire era quietly reshaped the fate of every ordinary person.