User reviews

With the tradition and Chinese culture this movie performed it impeccably. Taiwan is one of the countries with strong family value and love surround between people. Mainland China cannot make this kind of movie as their product is always overdramatic, hk and Singapore won't have this background support and will become lame for this topic and always commercial kind. This movie just so natural and telling a story in a woman family. It just full of love and tears from this movie, if you have connection with any Taiwanese and been in their culture, you will like it.

Joseph Chen-chieh Hsu illustrates an important message about the importance of moving on against the luscious beauty that is Tainan, Taiwan. Unfortunately poor pacing and under whelming drama prevents the film from hitting hard.

On her 70th Birthday, Lin Xiuying (Played by Shu-Fang Chen) makes grand birthday celebrations that quickly transform into funeral plans when her estranged husband who she has not seen in over a decade passes away. Without hesitation as a traditional Hoklo woman, she plans her husbands mourning and funeral grudgingly. The rest delves into her emotions over her husband and the reality of her actual feelings.

To my understanding, this is Hsu's debut feature film which went on to be last year's highest grossing film in Taiwan, which for a regional language film is surprising. You feel the deep passionate love for his country, especially Tainan. Temples, streets, markets, seashores, restaurants are all vividly displayed with their colors complimenting them on screen. The audio, while appearing rather minimally, usually knows how to hit the emotions just right. Much of the natural sounds like deep-frying, traffic, and the clicking of heels on the floor, provide a rather pleasant experience on the ears, almost transporting you there.

I applaud the cast a lot, its rare to see a film almost exclusively led by women, that to directed by a man. Everyone's acting most notably Shu-Fang Chen and Ying-Hsuan Hsieh were extremely well done.

Sadly what didn't work for the film was the lack of overall connectivity, and the lack of backstory that could have help me connect with Lin and why it was so hard to let go. There is a lack of heart wrenching emotional events that make us want to strongly empathize with her or her daughters.

Overall, its not a terrible film. Hsu has an essay about the importance of letting go that becomes apparent in the end. Unfortunately, it could have been amplified with better on screen management of events, possibly more focus on the matriarchy and less of the daughters.

When an absent father dies, his daughters clash with their mother.

A family drama in Taiwan, far from the canons we're used to by Hollywood studios.

I am more and more attracted to slow-burners like this one, where we are treated, little by little, with the elements that build the narrative, in a very intelligent way.

The way it's structured allows the viewer to change their opinion about the developments that they see on screen, and to root for different characters, as the story unfolds.

It's mainly about reflection, morality and rigidity of tradition, and being at peace, on a personal level, and then with others, and letting life take the course it is supposed to.

The recurring flashbacks can be confusing sometimes, without the proper context.

There's no jaw-dropping twists, just surprises, that I personally liked. The final scenes are undoubtedly the highlight of the film, and well worth the wait.

Keeps you on your toes...remembering names...who is related to who...married to who. But, well worth watching. All families are confronted with the same issues...no matter the culture or nationality.

And there's big flaw that bothered us a lot: The younger Madam Lin seemed to be too tall when compared her height to the present her. I simply couldn't persuade myself that the present old Lin lost her height due to serious Osteoporosis that had turned her old self into a midget like short woman. There were so many flashbacks with her younger images, but they just failed to link her as the 70yr old present self. So the young Lin was definitely a huge miscast. Also, the mistress of the dead husband was also a bit too young and too tall. Maybe it's an arrangement to purposefully put contrast to these two women?

Also, the youngest sister gave us a very negative impression, quite unlikable from the very beginning. If she took over her mother's restaurant business, why she didn't go to the fish market early in the morning and still forced her mother to do the regular daily purchase? She's a bit like spoiled brat who usually be the youngest. The dialog between and among the sisters just felt awkward, raw and no sisterhood feelings at all.

But other than what I've mentioned and pointed out as the above, this movie is such a decent and matured one that rarely came out of Taiwanese movie producers. It has transcended in every section that only a great movie could have achieved. The montage of the camera operated, the sounds and the subtle soundtrack in and out so appropriately, the acting of most of the actors involved, especially the great performance of Ms. Shu-Fang Chen, an absolutely Oscar worthy actress who's like a vintage wine matured so perfectly in a bottle. There were stories for everyone involved and well balanced throughout the whole story line structure. The directing was absolutely superb! But of course, all the achievements should be sincerely counted on a fantastic screenplay. This movie has convinced me that Taiwan movie industries still got hope to jump to the higher international standard level.

"Among the three daughters, Ching, the eldest (play by Hsieh Ying-Hsuan, a Golden Horse winner for DEAR EX, 2019), has her own upward battle to fight and Hsieh beautifully exhibits her seize-the-day and devil-may-care spiritedness and most touchingly, the perpetual dread of morality, hidden, only bobbing up occasionally to the surface, but never fully morphs into schmaltzy, Hsieh's overall command is exceptionally excellent, especially in parallel with Vivian Hsu's second daughter Yu and Sun Ke-Fang's youngest daughter Jiajia (whose inconsiderate siding with her father is too annoying and contrived a plot designation), plus Ning Chang has a heartwarming cameo as another daughter who Shoying gave up in hardship."

read my full review on my blog: cinemaomnivore, thanks

Personally, I was very emotional throughout many scenes in this movie. Mainly because I am a Chinese to Canada immigrant. The countless words in English cannot describe what I felt and what I am feeling after I watched this film. I felt connected, and for the first time, emotionally invested in this film. Although it is a Taiwanese film, our culture is not too different. I felt warmth from this movie, sadness, nostalgia, and it was, in a sense, relatable. If I did not have the background I do, I wouldn't be giving this movie such a high rating. The plot wasn't especially exceptional, and a lot of things may be confusing. However, it really tugs on my heartstrings. It opens my eyes to family connections, about letting go, and really impacted me because of certain experiences in real life. Overall, I found this a great film, but that is a complete personal opinion.

A drama from Taiwan. It is about a woman and her daughters who must perform the funeral rites of their ex-husband and father, unleashing the pain and kept secrets. Quality. Hard. Reflexive. Daily. Interpretative. Parsimonious in the extreme. At times you feel that nothing happens in more than two hours of movies, you must stay until the end. Talk about letting go of things from the past that hurt us, about forgiveness and love. About those things that we hope for and live each day being happy despite life's situations. Of family relationships and their disruptions. A detail that, as they all look alike, some stories become confusing and that some moments you must interpret. A film that shows that a woman's heart is a sea of love and secrets.

I have to wholeheartedly compliment reviewer blaze32646 February 2021 for his/her "A slow moving film about letting go" review; a rare great in-depth analysis of how it should have been done more properly and why it's a huge miss of making this movie a greater and better movie.

The movie didn't completely tell the backstory of why that husband/father had become estranged to his wife/daughters, why the wife/mother still gave a damn to her betrayed/estranged husband and as a husband/father. it also failed to show us how this woman had been forced into a single parent mother, how his betrayal, his heartless cruelty impact the family he left behind. What's the reason he betrayed his wife/daughters? An adulterer for another woman? If so, can you believe this wife-by-marriage would forgive him? Schopenhauer On "Woman" claimed that Woman in Love is far weaker than woman in Hate; a woman in love and hate is far barbaric than most men. There's no way to correct such fact that this Mamma San in particular had evolved and transcended to a kinder and more generous female.

Therefore, once her persistence of carrying out the farewell ritual to her husband is quite obscure and argumentatively controversial, this movie could only have achieved a small part of a bigger picture. But nonetheless, still a not so bad nor so great or so unique movie.

As another reviewer already stated, there are certain universal truths that ring true to everyone, no matter where you are from or how you lived. Well for most that is - because family and the relationships therein are always complicated. There is always love of course (at least a little bit of that), but there is also a lot of regret ... how and where you go when one of the pieces go missing (expires/dies, however you want to put it).

It may confuse a little bit, but the drama is worth it. This is for everyone who likes things to be "real life" and feel as real as possible. Secrets get revealed, passions exposed and other things that were under the surface. Now while that might sound exciting and powerful - it is, but not in a strong fast way, but rather a slow paced burning ... if you can dig that, you'll love the movie. If not ... well it's obvious isn't it.

The movie did its job to hold a big concern with the mother for over 2 hours, & unfold smoothly at the end, & close nicely, revealing beautiful personas of each character, even the farther. What they did are just to carry out their responsibilities as a member in the family, a mother, a husband, a daughter & sisters, with all the love they have got, in their own way. There would be better solution for each situation that was draw out in the story, yet, all their fragile actions make the movie so emotional & warm.

I love the movie & how it was told.

It was like a glass of wine that I was not hurry to drink but just watching it slowly filled up. At first, I just felt a little bitter in my throat but then it had a powerful aftereffect which made my rims of eyes red with unstoppable grievances, sadness and tears. Everyone had different memory about the past and as time past by, only the true emotion and feeling were left. At the same time, these emotion and feeling were so individual that they crashed into each other. The heroine was an aggrieved woman and she was also a strong mother. She decided to vanish all those love and hatred deep inside her heart at her husband's funeral without attendance. But her grievances have landed in my mind. Although this story ended in harmonious had some ridiculous plots, it was exactly the blandness and doughtiness that the heroine showed during her life, the contradiction and harmony in this little family, the perfect performance of the leading actress, and all the just-right and full emotion, made this sincere film so addicted.

The story Is simple but beautiful and meaningful through the way of telling a story, acting and ambient build in the movie. I feel "wow" and wonder that women are a piece of the strongest species in the world if they have to encounter with hundreds of obstacles in their life. Their sacrifice, love and compassion is really hard if compared with others. After watching this movie, I miss my Mom who also sacrifice her life for her child, husband and ton of other businesses that she has to take care just because she is a mother of 2-child, a wife and a daughter-in-law. Please love and respect great women beside you.!

There is no amazing plot. Not many twist in the story. However, I just feel the director uses his heart to shoot the movie. Lot of women in actual life face the betrayal of husband, cancer, sour relationship with husband and kids. The movie just resonates our lives. I am just relieved to see the grandma finally forgive her husband and let go the past. It is a harsh fact that women always face the betrayal of husband in actual life. It is unfair to ask women to forgive their husband. But forgiveness is a gift to ourselves. Let go of the past free us women. We have to perhaps to accept that women are born to face betrayal. We have somehow to accept this fate. And if we are given a second chance make sure that you make a correct choice before marriage.

With the simple story, but the real things that can happen particularly in asian society. The performance of all casts were good. I really like the film score and soundtracks, it fit so much for movie.

If you are chinese, this is the family drama for chinese people. Especially if you are still hold tradition till this day.