A Brighter Summer Day: The Search for Identity

[@陳柏諺-t6q]

Taiwanese here, thank you for the excellent video essay. :) I wanted to add some stuff to this video: The "search for identity" theme throughout the film is also very much relevant to the time (1991) when this movie was released. Martial law was lifted in 1987, ending the "white terror era" in which free speech is non-existent; a year later, we had our first native-born president (instead of a mainlander). Taiwan was going through a massive change in society and ideology when they made A Bright Summer Day. This was a time when the "native-mainlander" rivalry slowly faded out of political discussions, and a newly emerging Taiwanese identity was now front and center. I'd like to think Yang chose to tell this story as to capture the anxiety Taiwan was experiencing in the early 90s, stuck between two ideas of identity (represented by the two generations). And honestly, there's no better way to represent social anxiety through teenage angst haha. So yes, this was an epic and well-made film, but if you consider the time when they released it, this film was also making some pretty bold social-political statements about the identity of a nation, many of them so subtle even we Taiwanese might not pick up.

[@VinayakSri]

woah

[@keveen177]

Thank you so much for the additional comment. I just saw the film today, and your comment has really helped me understand Yang’s work more!

[@liquid_karan]

you're the real MVP

[@mauwow]

SPOILER ALERT: I think the line Jade says to Xiao Si'r nearly at the end sums up the theme of the movie. When he's telling her that he would try to make her better but then she replies with "what if I don't want to change to what your expectations are? Then You'll just get angry" I butchered the quote, but it was something like that and the same goes for Xiao Si'r´s attempt to belong in a society that's just too rotten and that's why there's this allegoric frame of him being in a cross like jesus christ, later reinforced with the religious girl talking to him about how Jesus died to save us and that makes him think of the story from War and Peace about the guy who wanted to defeat Napoleon by himself but failed and was captured, representing how meaningless is the act of trying to redeem a society, which Xiao Si'r also says at the moment of killing Ming. I don't know if that made sense, it's just that the movie left me thinking a lot (also sorry if my english was a little off, I'm mexican)

[@jeeyuantan7711]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q4eroXV6ndd-r80 which is the frame where he gets framed like JESUS CHRIST?

[@mauwow]

@@jeeyuantan7711 there: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYK8m5qJbs1_bs0

[@jeeyuantan7711]

@@mauwow I DONT SEE IT

[@jeeyuantan7711]

@@mauwow I SEE IT THANK YOU

[@realnegajpeg9935]

Very nice catch!

[@nimazsheik5152]

Phenomenal movie! One of the most underrated characters in the movie is the Dad. He goes through so much but gives such good wisdom to his son! "Remember: Things with a hole in the middle bring headaches" 🤣

[@EnemaOfCinema]

I go back and forth between this and Andrei Rublëv for the best movie I’ve ever seen. I love this film’s structure and Edward Yang’s filmmaking style-this is one of the most authentic pieces of art I’ve ever seen.

[@fz8376]

Both directors are my absolute favourites. You simply can’t choose one

[@EnemaOfCinema]

@@fz8376 that is true. I’ve seen more of Tarkovsky, but I can’t wait to watch YiYi!

[@DamianWayneRogue]

great video essay. just watched this masterpiece for the first time this week

[@Ezequiazzz]

Amazing movie and such a beautiful rendition of it you had made in this video. Honestly, I can't have enough of this film.

[@austinmathews2657]

I just watched the film today. Though I wasn’t fully aware of the societal conflict, I still felt the characters had choices; not everything was determined. S’ir had a choice between two different lives, and his father-despite his circumstances-had a chance to move past the part of himself he knew was his worst trait: his explosive anger. Like father, like son. We see that both characters make moves to even be better people. But we see how their own self-righteousness and sense for what is just comes to bite them back in the end. Of course, they start out with the short end of the stick. But would you say their paths were inevitable?

[@skypigwoolf]

Austin Mathews, that’s a good take. As a person who was raised in Taiwan for a few years it does seem like it was normal for parents to discipline their children by hitting them. Perhaps not as violently the father does in the film, but to a certain extent, disciplining children is so ingrained in the culture that they sell “fly swatters” and bamboo sticks at the local store. We all know what they’re really used for but it’s just part of what is normal for us. The thought of it being the father’s explosive anger hadn’t even passed my mind. I agree that the characters in the film are trying to become better people. While the father is trying to give up cigarettes to help raise money for his son, the son is trying to survive night classes because it’s better for him. Their issue is that no matter how hard they try to change who they are, their society just isn’t really built to work to their favor. The father is fired from his job as a result of being questioned by the secret police and S’ir is tangled into the gang even when at first he doesn’t seem to want to. So to me, yes it does seem that their paths are inevitable despite their efforts to try.

[@austinmathews2657]

Sky Wood I’ll have to rewatch the film from this angle. Because I didn’t know the culture well beforehand, I universalized and personalized the story for myself. The determinism under such a militaristic regime definitely shapes the movie though. Thanks.

[@dylancarter5818]

@@skypigwoolf Actually the fathers business friend makes a remark about how he has too much of an anger problem and that he has to move past that if he wants to progress, the father also alluded to this when him and Xiao are walking back from the father blowing up at the principal for what he saw was an unjust treatment of his son. He seems to remark to his son that he knows he was wrong for blowing up but also that you must fight for what you believe in. Great video by the way.

[@fattysun1121]

I think it is the whole society that cooked up the "monster" that was Si'r. You only have a choice, when people around you act a different way. People resorted to violence, students hitting teachers were a norm, and society was unstable. Also, his dad was a very stubborn person as well. Everything just seemed to point Si'r to an unreturnable path

[@fattysun1121]

Taiwanese here, just finished watching this second time with my American friends. It's such a masterpiece. I always wondered what role christianity played in this movie. Your interpretation made sense to me. It is just a way of searching for identity at that period of time.

[@underclvss]

I loved the movie but i gotta say you made me appreciate it even more. Great video

[@kiklocus4660]

this movie is an art, cultural revelation

[@totonoen6453]

Great work man, Love it. This movie had become one of my all time favourite. I really like the tone and mood of this movie, it was so phenomenal. There are so many little details that I might missied from just watching in the first time. I'll re-watch it for sure.

[@matttttt63]

Watched this yesterday. Great film. Thanks for an insightful analysis.

[@slashmx7]

Just watched the film a few days ago. Masterpiece. Thanks for this great video essay!

[@rife133]

Just watched it, good movie, and really well crafted video essay, nice work

[@HNSEN10]

he makes War and Peace sound so kick ass.

[@raktimnandi9566]

Excellent video essay.

[@stefan2serb]

A haunting movie. That last scene with his mother hanging up laundry and looking at his uniform with the reality hitting home that their lives are irreversibly changed forever is so powerful. Disappointing choice from Xiao S’ir to kill Ming, she wasn’t worth it.

[@maxim.j22]

Великолепное эссе, жаль, что автор больше не снимает видео

[@wmka]

Thank you and have a great day.

[@robertnguyen4671]

Hi!, I would like to contribute Vietnamese subtitle for this video essay. Can you enable community contributions? Thank you!

[@skypigwoolf]

Thank you so much! I just enabled it.

[@trakha1067]

Thấy bất ngờ khi có sub Việt, cảm ơn bạn nhé.

[@hplsswrr]

Cảm ơn bạn nhé, bạn dịch hy lắm!

[@robertnguyen4671]

Great video essay

[@darioleon8791]

One of the best films ever

[@meanjune]

great video

[@Greghuang0418]

Little park is not native gang. But they cooperate with native gang

[@capitalburst245]

Darkest summer night

[@billt5410]

小貓 is super wholesome

[@youreal6]

in the actual song by elvis he says brighter sunny day.

[@skypigwoolf]

J 6, I actually thought that for the longest time because in the original song, it sure does sound like "Sunny day." But as I was looking at the live recording, he clearly says "Summer" where his lips are closed to make an M sound instead of an N. Although, the actual lyrics online does state that he says Sunny day. So either he switches between one or the other, or maybe one of them is wrong. When I was writing the essay I wanted to incorporate the fact that the title of the movie is based on a misunderstanding of the lyrics to the song, but in the end, it was too convoluted and I couldn't find evidence anywhere that this was done on purpose.

[@HungL0W]

Aye this video is well done

[@janehenderson890]

Who sings Angel Baby at 4:37 please?? P.S: Love your video, thank you!

[@skypigwoolf]

Hi Jane, The version of Angel Baby I used was straight from the movie so it was sung by Cat. Particularly I used this version: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eHKVfKB6j9mDkLs Thank you!

[@janehenderson890]

@@skypigwoolf Thank you very much !

[@benminhanh5926]

love, thank you.

[@sedsuku]

Masterpiece review

[@athena4973]

hey may i ask how you got the clips for this movie? did you buy it? i rented it to watch the film but as someone that’s planning to make a youtube channel on films i have no idea how to get all these clips especially from less known movies rip. great analysis btw.

[@skypigwoolf]

athena, I have a copy of the movie and I used the program Handbrake to rip it. For Blu-ray copies, you need to buy a Blu-ray reader for your computer.

[@youreal6]

@@him12672 it's on criterion channel

[@GuilhermeSilva-kx6ms]

While I enjoyed both your video and the movie, I was not that impressed by the latter. First, even before the first scene, the movie starts by telling you explicitly that the youth was joining these gangs, as you said, for a sense of identity. I think with four hours of run time, the movie should be able to allow you to infer that by yourself. Also, the movie feels badly paced, with the first half having little to do with the second. And the whole gang conflict was quite bland, imho. The movie was good, and probably important at the time, but I wasn't convinced of all the praise it gets.

[@frog6054]

Well, I agree with you. The second act of the film is when the film became really good. The gang plot is a bit underwhelming.

[@vf00]

whatta video

[@圆圆老]

Cat's voice singing is close to a woman singer

[@vietdinhvan1560]

can't get over honey's awkward movements and fighting though. isn't he a gang leader lol?

[@felixfred1]

I think that’s kind of the point. It’s so ridiculous that these guys are school kids and their experience of fighting is just a schoolyard scrap, yet he’s been in exile for murdering someone. The society is not built for kids, and this shouldn’t happen