Edward Yang
July 2nd, 2007 by Lu Pin
The news that director Edward Yang died last week is a shock to me. He seems so young and has so much to offer.
I can’t declare myself a devoted fan of him. I have only watched one of his movies in cinema, Mahjong (1996). I watched his The Terrorizer (1986) on tape. His most famous work is, of course, A Brigher Summer Day (1991). However it seems very difficult to find this film, which I have only watched some scenes on video. I’m still waiting for the day that I can watch this film on big screen, where it deserves to be seen.
Edward Yang’s career path is legend to film buffs. He started to be interested in film making when he was studying computer science. The legend says he was so intrigued to Fellini’s 8 1/2 that he watched it four times trying to understanding it. The breakthourgh came when he and three other budding young Taiwanese directors directed In Our Time (1982). He is true auteur, choosing his project s carefully. In his 18 years career of a director, he has only made 7 and 1/4 movies - The 1/4 was In Our Time (1982). His last film, A One and a Two (2000), won him Best Director at Cannes. And some will say, he reached the pinnacle of his career with this film.
Edward Yang (right) is one of talented young Taiwainese directors in the 80’s.
