A Brighter Summer Day (1991) by Edward Yang
No discussion of Hou Hsiao-hsien is complete without his friend and fellow Taiwanese New Wave titan, Edward Yang. While Hou’s films often feel like memories, Yang’s have the precision of a novel. “A Brighter Summer Day” is his magnum opus, a nearly four-hour
epic about teen gangs, cultural displacement, and burgeoning identity in 1960s Taipei. Like Hou’s “A City of Sadness,” it uses an intimate story to paint a vast portrait of a nation in turmoil. Yang’s camera is just as patient as Hou’s, but where Hou drifts, Yang composes with architectural rigor, filling each wide frame with meticulous detail and letting drama unfold at its own deliberate, heartbreaking pace. It’s an immersive, unforgettable experience that explores the same questions of history and belonging that define much of Hou's work.
Still Life (2006) by Jia Zhangke
If Hou Hsiao-hsien is the master poet of Taiwan’s past, Jia Zhangke is his mainland Chinese counterpart for the country's turbulent present. “Still Life” is set against the monumental backdrop of the Three Gorges Dam project, a government initiative that displaced millions and submerged ancient towns. The film follows two people searching for their spouses amidst the rubble and rising waters. Jia’s camera moves with a slow, observational grace that directly recalls Hou, capturing both the epic scale of destruction and the quiet, resilient lives of those affected. Blending documentary-style realism with touches of surreal poetry, Jia finds beauty and sorrow in a landscape of radical change, creating a compassionate record of cultural memory being erased in the name of progress.
Vive L’Amour (1994) by Tsai Ming-liang
Another giant of Taiwanese cinema, Tsai Ming-liang pushes the principles of slow cinema to their minimalist extreme. “Vive L'Amour” is a film about profound urban loneliness, following three characters who unknowingly share a vacant Taipei apartment. Dialogue is sparse, and the story is told through long, static shots where almost nothing seems to happen—yet everything is conveyed. Tsai shares Hou’s love for the long take but uses it to explore modern alienation and unspoken desire rather than historical memory. The characters rarely interact, their lives brushing past one another in a city of millions. The film’s devastating final shot, a single, minutes-long take of a character weeping in a park, is one of the most powerful expressions of solitude ever put to film and a testament to the emotional power of a patient camera.
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011) by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan is a modern master of contemplative cinema, and his work resonates deeply with Hou’s aesthetic. “Once Upon a Time in Anatolia” is nominally a police procedural, following a group of men searching for a buried body through the vast, dark Anatolian steppes. But the plot is merely a scaffold for a meditative, philosophical journey. The film unfolds through long, winding conversations and silences as the night wears on. Ceylan’s visuals are stunningly painterly, turning the rolling hills and fleeting headlights into a canvas for human drama. Like Hou, he understands that landscape is character and that the most profound truths are often revealed not in moments of action, but in the quiet, patient spaces in between.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Thai auteur Apichatpong Weerasethakul creates films that feel like dreams, blending the everyday with the supernatural in a way that is utterly unique. His Palme d'Or-winning masterpiece, “Uncle Boonmee,” follows a dying man’s final days in the countryside as he is visited by the ghosts of his deceased wife and his long-lost son, who has transformed into a monkey-like spirit. Apichatpong shares Hou’s unhurried pacing and his deep, spiritual connection to the natural world. His films are set in the jungles and villages of his homeland, where folklore, memory, and reality freely intermingle. The camera holds, allowing strange and wondrous events to unfold with a calm, matter-of-fact acceptance. For viewers who appreciate Hou's ability to capture the mysterious flow of time, Apichatpong’s cinema offers a mesmerizing and magical journey.
