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.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS