Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai (梁朝偉) on Tuesday visited Taiwan for the first time in a decade to attend the premiere of the digitally restored version of A City of Sadness (悲情城市).
The appearance of Leung — who had not visited Taiwan since attending the Golden Horse Awards in 2013 — along with much of the film’s original cast and crew was not announced in advance.
In the 1989 film by director Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢), Leung plays Lin Wen-ching (林文清), a deaf-mute doctor and photographer whose family is caught up in the events surrounding the 228 Incident on Feb. 28, 1947.
Photo courtesy of Activator Co via CNA
In a brief speech on stage, Leung thanked Hou for the “encouragement and inspiration” he gave him as a young actor, and recalled their conversations during their frequent trips throughout Taiwan while filming the movie.
Cinematographer Chen Huai-en (陳懷恩) also shared an anecdote about Leung, saying that the last scene they shot for the film was one in which Leung’s character, confronted on a train and asked where he is from, responds: “I am Taiwanese.”
Immediately after filming the iconic scene, Leung “had to rush to the airport to catch his flight back to Hong Kong,” Chen said.
Despite the reunion-like atmosphere of the premiere, Hou was unable to attend, due to health issues stemming from a severe case of COVID-19 in September last year, the film’s cowriter Chu Tien-wen (朱天文) said.
Although the 75-year-old director can now go on daily walks and is slowly recovering his strength, his doctors recommended that he skip the event, Chu said.
She said that she hoped Taiwanese audiences would see the digitally restored version of the film in theaters 33 years after its original release, even if they have already seen it.
“Regardless of how long it’s been, time always adds another layer of meaning to things,” she said.
The 4K digitally restored version of A City of Sadness is to be shown in about 60 theaters across Taiwan from Friday next week.
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