Pai Hsien-yung has lent Chinese-language literature some of its most colorful and most memorable characters, and served as the inspiration of multiple generations of artists working in mediums as different as television, film, and theatre. From the youthful air of the Modern Literature magazine, which he helped launch at the age of 22, to the humanistic sincerity in his recent works My Father and the Republic and Healing the Pain, Pai looks back on his 29 years teaching at Santa Barbara, a four-decade relishing of Guilin rice noodles, and a return visit to the gardens of Suzhou after 10 years. Through the darkened realm of the stage, to the countless lectures and courses he taught, Pai has been at the forefront of literature for multiple generations, with his unique blend of resilience and tenderness reverberating through the film, and bringing audiences closer to his warmth as a novelist.
Directed by Teng Yung-Shing
Your score–
Not scoredRelated

Come See Me in the Good Light

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction

I Am Heath Ledger

Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin

Gilbert

Chris Brown: Welcome to My Life

For the Love of Spock

My Mom Jayne

Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God

The Curse of the Dragon

As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty

Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King

Whitney: Can I Be Me

Marvel's Behind the Mask

Harmontown