Film director Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) is to retire from cinema due to Alzheimer’s disease, his family said in a brief statement yesterday.
The announcement came on the heels of an IndieWire report that said Hou had retired due to dementia, citing among its sources a remark by an associate and film expert Tony Rayns in an introduction during the screening of Hou’s 1985 film A Time to Live and a Time to Die (童年往事).
Hou’s office in Taipei has closed its doors and its employees dismissed, the film industry and review Web site said.
Photo: Wang Wen-lin, Taipei Times
Hou’s son yesterday said in a statement that his father had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and that he had been making the long-awaited Shulan River (舒蘭河上) despite his condition until a COVID-19 infection forced an end to the project.
The family expressed hope that Hou’s friends and fans would not be saddened by his retirement, and that Hou “found his love for movies to have become more purified” before catching COVID-19.
“Hou has returned fully to family life following his recovery [from COVID-19] and he is in good mental and physical condition,” his son said, urging the public to give Hou space to enjoy his life with loved ones.
Photo: Reuters
Although Hou would not complete Shulan River, his works have already garnered acclaim from critics around the world, including many film classics that “assuredly will withstand the tides of time and be remembered,” his son said.
“Hou’s passion and approach to filmmaking will continue to live in his comrades and fans,” he said. “We give our most sincere thanks.”
Hou’s company is to continue operations, his son said.
Photo courtesy of Activator Co. Ltd.
Hou rose to international fame after his 1989 film City of Sadness (悲情城市) won the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival.
The director’s later works, including The Puppetmaster (戲夢人生), Flowers of Shanghai (海上花) and Three Times (最好的時光) won plaudits at global movie festivals and independent film events.
Hou released his last film, The Assassin (刺客聶隱娘), in 2015, for which he received the Best Director award at that year’s Cannes Film Festival.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS