This film is inspired by screenwriter Chu Tien-wen's childhood memories. It is the first installment of director Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "Coming-of-Age Trilogy" that features three prominent Taiwanese screenwriters' coming-of-age stories - the other two are "Time to Live and a Time to Die, A (1985)" (inspired by the coming-of-age story of Hou Hsiao-Hsien, who is a screenwriter-turned-director) and "Dust in the Wind (1986)" (inspired by the coming-of-age story of Wu Nien-Jen).
One summer in Taiwan, a young boy and his sister are sent to the country home of their grandparents, as their mother has been hospitalized. The movie is told from the children's point of view, and nothing terribly important happens in much of it, just life passing by during one summer in a rural village in Taiwan. The boy interact with the other children in the picturesque mountain village, while her younger sister, who is unable to understand what has happened to her mother, mostly stays at home of their grandparents. What is best about the movie is the warm portrayal of the characters, especially the grandfather, a stern doctor.
Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien.
Cast: C. Chen Li, Hsiu-Ling Lin, Mei-Feng, Ching-kuo Yan, Edward Yang, Lai-Yin Yang.
Taiwan, 1984.
Language: Chinese.
Subtitles: Russian, English, Chinese, Japanese.
Download Dong dong de jia qi / A Summer At Grandpa's.