- English name：A Summer at Grandpa’s
- Broadcast time：1984
- Starring：梅芳、古军、王启光、颜正国、陈博正
- director：侯孝贤（Hou Hsiao-hsien）
Introduction
Today, I will introduce a Chinese film which called A Summer at Grandpa’s (冬冬的假期dōng dōng de jià qī). So let us have a brief introduction.
A Summer at Grandpa’s is a 1984 film directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien (侯孝贤Hóu Xiàoxián).
This film is inspired by screenwriter Chu Tien-wen‘s (朱天文Zhū Tiānwén) childhood memories, and the first part of Hou’s coming-of-age trilogy, followed by The Time to Live and the Time to Die (1985) and Dust in the Wind (1986).
Synposis
A young boy, Dong-Dong and his sister spend a summer vacation at their grandparents’ house in the country while their mother recuperates from an illness; they while away the hours climbing trees, swimming in a stream, searching for missing cattle, and coming uneasily to grips with the enigmatic and sometimes threatening realities of adult life.
This is a very fabulous film.
Plot
One summer, Dongdong, a primary school graduate from Taipei, took his sister Tingting to spend the summer vacation at his grandfather’s home in Tongluo Town, Tainan. During the short vacation, the little brother and sister experienced many things in this rural town with distant mountains, streams, rice fields, trees, and cicadas. Uncle Changmin and his girlfriend Lin Biyun had a relationship while they were in love. Biyun’s mother came to make trouble. Grandpa was very angry and chased Changmin, but his uncle didn’t care. Dongdong accidentally broke into his uncle’s room and found a wanted criminal hiding in the house. One day, a crazy woman appeared on the street. Passers-by avoided her, but Tingting approached her.
Once the crazy woman saved Tingting who was almost in an accident. Later, the crazy woman was insulted, pregnant, and miscarried. In order to save the crazy woman, the grandfather didn’t bother to visit his daughter, Dongdong’s mother, who was in critical condition in Taipei Hospital. After the crazy woman and Dongdong’s mother were both out of danger, grandpa said to Dongdong: “Parents cannot take care of their children forever. They can only lay a good foundation for them before they enter the society and teach them the basic things they should have as human beings.” Dongdong, who was sensible, knew that grandpa had forgiven his uncle. Summer vacation was over. When Dongdong and Tingting left the town, Tingting wanted to greet the crazy woman passing by, but the crazy woman still walked forward at a loss. Dongdong waved and said goodbye loudly, saying goodbye to his friends in the town, the rice fields, the streams and his childhood, and embarked on a new journey towards maturity.
