Taiwan, años '60. Los jóvenes taiwaneses, aunque dominados por China, se sienten deslumbrados por los Estados Unidos y organizan bandas para afirmar su identidad. La versión original duraba 237 minutos, pero por motivos comerciales Yang la recortó para su exhibición hasta los 188 minutos.
In this drama, the harsh treatment of women in Chinese society is examined and subtly commented upon as it tells the tale of an impoverished woman living in Shanghai, circa 1910 who tries to support her brother and sister-in-law. A marriage to a wealthy man is arranged for her, and reluctantly she endures it, even though she does not love the man who is as cruel as he is wealthy. His mother is also brutally unkind to her. She then has a son, but her struggles are not over when her husband dies and only leaves her a modest inheritance. Her wretched life has made her bitter, and so she begins making her son suffer as she die; she also becomes addicted to opium.
Film sobre la infancia y la adolescencia, muy influida por la propia niñez del director. Como muchos de sus compatriotas, la familia de Hou se trasladó del continente a Taiwán en 1948 y fue incapaz de volver. La película se centra en el cada vez mayor salto generacional de una familia separada de su herencia cultural.
