A Brighter Summer Day

1991 3h 57m ZH

🙌

8.2

BANGER

★8.2TMDB · 412

CrimeDramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A boy experiences first love, friendships and injustices growing up in 1960s Taiwan.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Chang Chen
Xiao Si'r
Lisa Yang
Ming
Chang Kuo-Chu
Father
Elaine Jin Yan-Ling
Mother
Wang Chuan
Eldest Sister
Chang Han
Elder Brother
Chiang Hsiu-Chiung
Middle Sister
Stephanie Lai
Youngest Sister

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Edward Yang
Writers: Yen Hung-ya, Mingtang Lai, Alex Yang
Languages: English, Mandarin
Countries: Taiwan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

At 237 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

35 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Mandarin.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Edward Yang, shot by Chang Hui-kung. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Zhang Hongda. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Chen Po-Wen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Chang Chen and Lisa Yang and Chang Kuo-Chu carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0101985 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Edward Yang directs. Chang Hui-kung behind the camera. Zhang Hongda scores. Chen Po-Wen cuts. A long sit — settle in. Produced in Taiwan. Dialogue in English, Mandarin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1At 237 minutes, this is a three-hour-plus commitment — longer than 95% of films ever made.
235 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Mandarin.
4Directed by Edward Yang, shot by Chang Hui-kung. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Zhang Hongda. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Chen Po-Wen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Chang Chen and Lisa Yang and Chang Kuo-Chu carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0101985 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 18 themes, including "high school", "baseball bat", "based on true story", "coming of age".
10Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Chang Hui-kung
Original score: Zhang Hongda
Editing: Chen Po-Wen
Production design: Yu Wei-Yen
Costume design: Le-Chin Wu
Runtime: 237 min · 3h 57m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: ZH
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: A Brighter Summer Day (1991)

Awards

Golden Horse Award for Best Feature Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Edward Yang

Stills · wallpapers

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-06-03
★ 7/10
This isn't so much a drama as an intimate observational documentary following the lives of people recently arrived on the island of Taiwan after the Chinese communist party took control of the mainland. There is still a considerable degree of militaristic life amongst the population, and the secret police are never far from the minds of the adults whilst the adolescents come to terms with their own, quite often gang-related, issues too. Those are not, initially at any rate, gangs in the violent sense of New York's "Jets" and "Sharks", but they are just as important in providing a degree of structure, identity and security for a rootless youth who are as uncertain of their future as they are of their past. With more than an oblique nod to "Romeo and Juliet", we meet "Si'r" (Chang Chen) who has a curiously ambivalent relationship with "Ming" (Lisa Yang), with both affiliated to opposing gangs at their high school. On the face of it, you might be forgiven for thinking that we are now in for something soapily teen-angsty, but by using a combination of more standard and more subtle photography, we start to find ourselves more immersed in the lives of these kids as they grow up and find their own identies all against a backdrop that sees their parents' generation coming to terms with a constantly simmering threat of political and social upheaval that leaves no-one safe from the authorities determined to discover any potential communist activists or sympathisers. There isn't so much a pace here as a series of breathing exercises. Some of it hairs along rapidly and occasionally quite violently, some of it is much more cerebral and discursive and some of it - just like life itself - is as dull to watch as it presumably is to live through. This also isn't only a sensitively filmed critique on the coming of ages of people, but also of a nation state and it is not without some elements of joy - though possibly not humour, as is takes it's time to unfold in a fashion that has an unusual and characterful authenticity to it. Like any film that approaches four hours in duration, it does have it's fallow moments but on the whole the performances provide us with measured and engaging characters and if you can get a chance to watch it on a big screen, it's play out a bit like a folk-song lyric Joan Baez might have sung.

Production companies