A Brighter Summer Day is a 1991 Taiwanese epic teen crime drama film directed by Edward Yang, associated with the New Taiwanese Cinema. Its English title is derived from the lyrics of Elvis Presley's 1960 rendition of "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the film centers on Xiao Si’r (Chang Chen), a boy from a middle-class home who veers into juvenile delinquency.
The film was selected as the Taiwanese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 64th Academy Awards but was not nominated.
A Brighter Summer Day was ranked 78th in the 2022 Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time poll, one of four Chinese-language films to be included and above Yang's Yi Yi.
Plot
Zhang Zhen (nickname Si'r), a junior high student in 1959 Taipei, is forced to attend night school after failing a test. This upsets his father, a career government worker, who is aware of and worried about the delinquency rampant among night school students. The next morning, Si'r and his father listen to a radio broadcast of distinguished students.
In 1960, Si'r, along with his best friend, Cat, spy on an actress changing clothes during the filming of a drama in a movie studio. Caught by a guard, they steal his flashlight and flee back to school. Si'r, noticing movement in a darkened classroom, turns on the flashlight and startles a pair of lovers but does not see their faces. Two gangs, the Little Park Boys and their rivals the 217s, are introduced. Si'r is not a member of either gang but he is closer to the Little Park Boys. The Little Park Boys are led by Honey, who is hiding in Tainan from police after killing one of the 217s over his girlfriend, Ming. Sly leads the gang in his absence. Sly and Si'r become rivals after Si'r gets Sly in trouble, believing him and his girlfriend, Jade, to be the pair of lovers he saw. Meanwhile, Si'r and Ming meet by chance and become friends.
Sly proposes a truce, arranging a concert with members from both gangs. Honey unexpectedly resurfaces and berates Sly for setting up the concert; however, he realizes the gang respects Sly more. The night before the concert, Honey "bequeaths" Ming to Si'r, believing him to be a stable boyfriend. The next night, Honey appears outside of the concert hall, antagonizing the 217s. Honey takes an ostensibly friendly walk with the 217's leader, Shandong, only to be killed when Shandong pushes him in front of an oncoming car. The Little Park Boys do not believe police reports that it is an accident, and plot revenge; they murder the 217s, including Shandong, during a typhoon, using weapons acquired by Ma, one of Si'r's wealthy classmates. Sly and the surviving Little Park Boys go into hiding. The same night, Si'r's father is arrested by secret police and interrogated about his past connections with the Chinese Communist Party. While eventually freed, he is demoted.
Si'r starts dating Ming and seems to be improving academically. However, she reveals her flirtations with other boys, including an older doctor, bothering Si'r. The next day, Si'r is expelled after lashing out at the doctor and smashing a light bulb. He promises to pass his transfer exams to get into day school, upsetting Ming, who knows this means she will see him less. Later, Sly emerges from hiding and apologizes to Si'r for their past feud and reveals that Ming and Ma are dating. Upset, Si'r begins dating Jade, but he upsets her and she bitterly reveals that the girl he saw kissing Sly was Ming, not her.
After threatening Ma at his home, Si'r steals Cat's knife and waits outside the school for him. Instead, he sees Ming and berates her for her promiscuity, saying that he is her only hope. Ming chides Si'r for being selfish and trying to change her; like the world, she cannot be changed. He stabs her to death and breaks down. Si'r is sentenced to death but the media frenzy around the case provokes the sentence to be changed to 15 years imprisonment. In Si'r's now-barren house, his mother unexpectedly finds Si'r's school uniform. As she sobs, the radio broadcasts a list of distinguished students.
Cast
Chang Chen as Xiao Si'r (Chang Chen, Xiao Si'r being a nickname that means "Little Four", or the fourth of five children) Chang Kuo-chu as Xiao Si'r's father Elaine Jin as Xiao Si'r's mother Lisa Yang as Ming Wong Chi-zan as Cat (Wang Mao) Lawrence Ko as Airplane Tan Chih-kang as Ma Lin Hong-ming as Honey Hung-Yu Chen as Sly Wang Chuan as Xiao Si'r's eldest sister Chang Han as Lao Er (elder brother) Chiang Hsiu-chiung as Xiao Si'r's middle sister Lai Fan-yun as Xiao Si'r's youngest sister