Film at Lincoln Center is showing “Desire/Expectations: The Films of Edward Yang” from Dec. 22, 2023, to Jan. 9, 2024. The program brings together Yang’s rarely screened works like “Mahjong (麻將, 1996)” and “A Confucian Confusion (獨立時代, 1994),” and widely beloved works such as “A Brighter Summer Day (牯嶺街少年殺人事件, 1991),” “Taipei Story (青梅竹馬, 1985),” and “Terrorizers (恐怖份子, 1986).”
“Mahjong” in the new 4K restoration will have its world premiere as part of the series. In addition, the other two of Yang’s Taipei Trilogy, “Yi Yi (一一, 2000)” and “A Confucian Confusion” are also included. The trinity dealt with complex interpersonal relationships in a fast-changing and urbanized society, to capture the ethos of Taiwan’s rapid modernization. Yang won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival in France in 2000 for “Yi Yi,” and the film also ranked eighth on the BBC's list of the 21st Century's 100 greatest films.
Born in Shanghai and brought to Taiwan by his family in 1949, Yang emerged in the early 1980s then became the Taiwan New Cinema movement’s prominent figure with his artistic contributions. Yang, a former electrical engineer who became a filmmaker, was known for his perfectionism, completing only seven feature films before his death from colorectal cancer in 2007 at the age of 59.
For more information, please visit Film at Lincoln Center’s website.