A Confucian Confusion

Duli Shidai

A sardonic portrait of a Taipei overrun by a generation of money-obsessed go-getters.

  • Director

    Edward Yang

  • With

    Chen Xiangqi, Ni Shujun, Wang Weiming

  • Taiwan 1994. 129min

  • Digital 4K (restoration)

  • Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles

In this darkly humorous satire, the first part of his New Taipei trilogy, Yang suggests Asian societies should look to new ways in which to live rather than more traditional approaches. After introducing a chorus of characters who sporadically return throughout the narrative, the film orbits the world of entitled PR executive Molly and her colleagues and friends, who are all connected by work, romance or rivalry. The result is a bitterly funny portrait of an economic miracle run amok and its impact upon those in thrall to it.