"The Greatest Film Of All-Time"

It’s a redundant discussion isn’t it? “The Greatest [Medium Of Art] Of All-Time.” By every objective measure through which we view art there is still the underlying subjective drive that elevates beyond the critical into the personal and why each respective work touches us in a unique sense, elevating it beyond mere collective greatness. And in that way there can and will never be a consensus. That is a beauty of art. It’s not a science experiment to be optimized for results. It’s a complex tapestry of emotion, contemplation, philosophy and personalization that cannot be tangibly quantified.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t have these kinds of conversations or rankings of “the greatest ____(s) of all time” because these conversations are fun and valuable to see the breadth of the human soul. Rather that we not take them so deathly serious while we do. Internalizing critique and analysis of art as a personal attack does none of us any good, though it IS understandable, given what I’ve laid out above, why people might feel like it is.

I’d like to introduce you to “The Greatest Film Of All Time.” At least from my very specific standards. The length of this film (237 minutes, that's a shade under 4 hours long) is undoubtedly a barrier of entry, if would say that not only does it use just about every single one of those 237 minutes purposefully, it’s paced in a way that it never feels as long as it is. I think it should also be noted that I watched the film split into 2 halves which is how I recommend you experience it to avoid burnout.

A Brighter Summer Day, directed by Edward Yang, is set in 1960s Taiwan against the backdrop of White Terror, the period of martial law imposed upon the nation under the rule of the KMT (Kuomintang) in which political persecution under the guise of "anti-state" activities was rampant, and innocent deaths carried out by the government was in the tens of thousands. An adolescent boy, Xiao Si'r from a middle class family veers into involvement with gangs and juvenile delinquency after failing a test and being forced to attend night school, a place in which delinquency is rampant. 

Inspired by Yang's personal upbringing and the world around him during his youth, to reduce the film to its references and associations would be a gross disservice. Valorous and courageous in equal measure, A Brighter Summer Day is a masterclass in the medium of filmmaking and artistic creation itself. Its shot framing and composition is off-center, slightly askew, small scale yet all encompassing, capturing every important detail while appearing wholly unique and, as far as I am concerned, unprecedented. Always showing us what we need to see without cutting away or in between dialogue for dynamism. While it has a quiet confidence in how it shows us it’s story, it has a modesty that is reflected in its setting, yet the backdrop of the government oppression and the conflicts happening throughout Taiwan is constantly felt if only very rarely seen or referred to. It's muggy, hazy, almost faded visual style give it a distinctly photographic feel, as if it is in memoriam of a life gone astray.

Its ambition in its storytelling extends far beyond its imposing length. Its characterization rivals among the best you will see in this. Si'r himself being at the center of the events taking place. His displacement in the world characterized more by silence and mannerisms than actual words, portrayed immaculately by Chang Chen, does far more to convey a lost teenager surrounded by chaos and evil than any spoken dialogue could. Si'r's father unable to be the guiding hand he would like to be as a career government worker with heavy anti-authoritarian viewpoints trying to shield himself and his family from persecution. A late night walk home with his father and a personal and intimate conversation reveals his convictions in one of my favorite quotes in all of cinema: “A person who apologizes for wrongs they didn’t commit is capable of all kinds of terrible things.”

We are constantly shown the romanticism of youth, especially adolescence, in our art. The time in ones life where they set themselves on the path to who they will become as an adult. And what of those deprived of their chance to flourish in a stable society? All that passion, hope, yearning for love and companionship stamped out by the harsh reality of a people unable and unwilling to give it. A battlefield of hormonic energy and thirst turning into a quite literal battlefield in the case of A Brighter Summer Day. Even the most seemingly heartfelt interactions have an undercurrent of hopelessness and exhaustion beneath them, what with the constant push and pull of multiple forces at each respective characters back, they are never given a moment to breath let alone inspect their loyalties to themselves, their friends, or their families. These aren’t the kinds of pressures teenagers are expected to have in their young lives. Ennui with very little to hold onto to keep ourselves dreaming about anything.

If art is meant to be an imitation of life, then one need to look no further than A Brighter Summer Day. Every scene is remarkably organic and lifelike and believably flawed people interacting with each other just as you would expect we would with others in our daily lives. Some of the best and most amazing performances by mostly children and young adults. The lack of musical score outside of what we can diegetically hear is absolutely the right decision. The feeling of replacement continuing on through its supporting characters and their associations with gangs. They may not offer a moral compass, but they do offer a space of loyalty, camaraderie, purpose and release that they fail to receive during their daily lives. And even if they do, their influence is just too strong for any form of meaningful resistance.

There’s a lot going on here, as you would expect in a 4 hour long film, but if I were to condense this work into one central interpretation it would be that this work is about people failing each other on interpersonal levels, more broad social levels, the larger ramifications it can have on a community and how populations will act out when faced with constant and relentless repression be it through government intimidation, threat of violence, and subsequent isolation. When a society descends into chaos, and violence becomes as much of a language and comfortable space as it shouldn't in any genuinely healthy community, it cannot be considered a surprise when the most directionless and impressionable of us begin to mimic the behavior of those around us. It's not a stretch to believe it is from a place of indescribable, almost incomprehensible pain and misery. And it starts as a domino effect at the most intimate, personal, and private levels.