An obvious authorial imposition is the role of Jack, whom Hou admits is modeled after himself. Jack hangs out with these wayward youth and takes care of them when they encounter trouble. At the same time, he seems to hesitate to interfere and express his affection for Vicky.
"I often feel I'm Jack in the film. I look at these young people, they are so beautiful and young, and I really wanted to get closer to their lives," Hou said. "They treated me like their big brother, like a leader. We hung out and had good time. My role was to deal with their troubles, and sometimes preach to them. But I always felt I couldn't fully be involved with them," he said.
Hou described himself as a filmmaker with a humanistic outlook and a sense of responsibility toward people's lives. Before, he said, his films were intended as a history of Taiwan's folk life. Now, his films are meant to record contemporary people's lives.
"I'm going to make six films for these younger people over the next 10 years. And I'll edit the films into dozens of documentaries. These will be my own recollection of their lives."
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