Outing myself here as one of those folks who thinks that Hou’s style didn’t come into its own until he switched to direct sound with A City Of Sadness. Still, the way this film teaches its viewer how to watch and experience it—continually returning to the same locations, re-framing objects so they develop a kind of oblique meaning through repetition, etc.—is master-class stuff.

P.S. The post-synced soundtrack and extensive use of daylight-compensating 45-degree shutters gives this a pronounced Italian neo-realist edge—an early, largely forgotten point of comparison for Western critics.

The Time to Live and the Time to Die is built around the autobiography of screenwriter-turned-director Hou Hsiao-hsien and is striking in its personalised portrayal of death ploughing into the self-contentment of childhood. It’s beautifully performed and shot and comprises an unembellished and committed honesty; which provides the movie with a poetic perceptiveness along with it boasting a delicate musical score by Chu-chu Wu. Hou's quiet style is both meditative and unpretentious, and the resulting work displays stunning clarity and confidence.

Grandma's never gonna find that bridge.

The last fifteen minutes or so of this just wreck me every single time. 

How weird is it the Tien Feng plays Hou’s dad? Lee Khan himself. Just one year before he played Leslie Cheung’s dad in A Better Tomorrow.

Filmmaking is a reflection of your childhood- Abbas Kiarostami.

This quote may reflect the best for hou's masterpiece.

Coming of age drama of the highest order

"When I watched A Time to Live and A Time to Die by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, I knew, I wanted to shoot something like this"- Hirokazu Kore-Eda

Childhood's depiction has never been so much impactful. It's a visual poetry eliciting reminiscences of the masterful director's own childhood. It's the pragmatic honesty of it that makes this an indeed " masterpiece ". Perfectly captures the essence of nostalgia and the melancholy of growing up from childhood to maturity. IHas anyone could curate a whole package of nostalgia and delineate them on screen so masterfully? I doubt! The whole perception is way bigger than it seemed. It also finely depicts the 40's Taiwan, conflict between borders, traditions and generation gaps. It will cherish forever in my heart.

Ideally, one should watch this film - one of Hou's most beautiful - six times in a row. Once for every family member.

Uma imersão temática e formal no cinema de Ozu, filtrada pelo olhar neo-realista italiano do pós-guerra. « Eventos da infância », no seu título original, é talvez o último filme de « crescimento » de HHH, anunciando (sobretudo na sua segunda metade) um estilo que se implantaria finalmente a partir de Dust In the Wind.

a wonderfully crafted portrait of growing up in taiwan. this film induced a feeling of nostalgia for something i’ve never experienced. while this is a coming of age film, it sets itself apart from others by deviating from the formulaic path that so many coming of age films take. this definitely inspired a brighter summer day in some fashion, and i’m looking forward to watching more from hou hsiao-hsien.

Coming of age drama of the highest order

"When I watched A Time to Live and A Time to Die by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, I knew, I wanted to shoot something like this"- Hirokazu Kore-Eda

Childhood's depiction has never been so much impactful. It's a visual poetry eliciting reminiscences of the masterful director's own childhood. It's the pragmatic honesty of it that makes this an indeed " masterpiece ". Perfectly captures the essence of nostalgia and the melancholy of growing up from childhood to maturity. IHas anyone could curate a whole package of nostalgia and delineate them on screen so masterfully? I doubt! The whole perception is way bigger than it seemed. It also finely depicts the 40's Taiwan, conflict between borders, traditions and generation gaps. It will cherish forever in my heart.

Filmmaking is a reflection of your childhood- Abbas Kiarostami.

This quote may reflect the best for hou's masterpiece.

No words. Simply the most singular sensibility...

not a bad film by any means, but a little too long and meandering for my lack of attention span 😐 there’s a couple of genuinely wholesome moments that stood out, but i didn’t find the latter half particularly interesting so yeah. this is my introduction to Hou Hsiao-hsien’s cinema btw and im excited 😃

Since it's based on Hou's own personal life it's pretty with bitter sweet family tale but far too slow and boring than usual. The film quite reminded me of one of my fav's 'The Brighter Summer Day'. It really had nice shot compostions but I couldn't really connected well with the characters except the grandmother. I would definitely look at Hou's other works as well and rewatch this film too some other time.

thought that this was going to be a full on romance story from the poster but it turned out to be this family centred drama. this isn't a criticism or anything, it just caught me off guard.

the movie itself looks really great and seems like a mix of Brighter Summer Day with Yi Yi and a dash of Ozu, though not as amazing as any of them. it just felt like a lesser version of those movies and I found myself occasionally bored in some scenes, which might've been on purpose but just made me feel like nothing was happening. I'm fine with slow cinema and occasionally am in love with it, but there's a difference between boredom and slowness and this one felt like the former.

The tenderness of the lighting -
What is it about mother’s passing down jewelry to their daughter...

The only thing almost as depressing as being a kid is being an adult.

Wait a minute....This is not a James Bond film.

Heard Lee Isaac Jung mentioned this film to Bong Joon Ho months ago and suddenly feels a need to watch this after having seen Minari. Both films tackled the same idea—family in alien country—but both were directed with whole different lens.

Given the film and Hou’s minimalist approach, The Time to Live and the Time to Die somehow requires more attention from viewers; as if one has to pay a great attention to one life and another, as if it’s a metaphor for how one family should be that way.

There are a lot of dramatic moments in this film, but none feels forced or dramatized. It seems like Hou meant to give viewers room to look at his life in any space or vicinity the viewers like. It’s a great film and I wish I could have seen it on the big screen.

'The Time to Live and the Time to Die' is a film filled with subtlety and delicacy. It treats its characters and their lives with utmost sincerity, genuineness and empathy. The emotions and feelings are natural and even amid death, loss and sadness, it maintains its composed and controlled approach which gives it a great sense of realism and maturity.
The cinematography is beautiful with its soft colours, textures and lights, complimenting the soft and serene nature of the film. The nature is omnipresent and you can hear it, see it and feel it all the time around which gives the film its ever growing and moving quality.