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Yi Yi
Film
23 reactions from 3 sources (Bluesky, TMDB reviews, Mastodon) · newest Jun 8, 2026 · last updated Oct 16, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
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Sentiment labels for these sources are still being hand-checked; no score yet.
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluesky * | 4 | 1 | 16 |
| TMDB reviews * | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
What people are saying
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At a glance
A City of Sadness is a 1989 drama history film, directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Hsin Shu-Fen and Chan Chung-Yung.
- 22 people have posted about this film on Bluesky, TMDB reviews, Mastodon
- posts span Nov 15, 2021 to Jun 8, 2026
Assembled from TMDB, Wikidata and Steam fields and our own counts, nothing written by a model. Method
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
23 public posts have mentioned A City of Sadness so far, but it needs 10 opinionated reactions from checked sources before it gets a score. Seen it? Post your take.
The Experts
89%
avg of 2 sources
The People
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audience score
Reactions
23 of 23 · most liked first#LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched A City of Sadness, Taiwan, 1989 As Tears Go By, HK, 1988 Love in a Fallen City, HK, 1984 Banana Paradise, Taiwan, 1989 Not shown, but also watched last weekend: Millionaire's Express, HK, 1986 Wrapping up the 1980s and heading off into the 1990s soon!
neutral · AI labelView post →Twisted fairy tale theme? Cruella was an unexpected hoot; A City of Sadness needs to be rewatched when it's not a blurry mess on Youtube :( ; The Legend of Billie Jean delivered Intense 80ism; Secret of Kells was ok, watched for Hater Club Challenge. #LetterboxdFriday #LastFourWatched #FilmSky
neutral · AI labelView post →"A City of Sadness" is an incredible movie. Working on so many levels, highly coded with historical details. But I guess, even without the historical knowledge, you can still enjoy the story and slow images. Definitely want to watch this again for more than once.
positive · AI labelView post →The Alula Film Festival, highlighting Chinese language film past and present, kicks of tonight in Los Angeles with the restoration of Hou Hsiao-hsien's A City of Sadness www.alulafilm.org/a-city-of-sa...
neutral · AI labelView post →best of 80s: 1980 The Shining 1981 Possession 1982 Toute une nuit 1983 Sans Soleil 1984 Stranger than Paradise 1985 Vagabond/Ran 1986 Landscape Suicide 1987 Wings of Desire 1988 A Short Film about Killing 1989 A City of Sadness/Histoire(s) du cinéma
neutral · AI labelView post →Week 3, we watched Hou Hsiao-Hsien's "A City of Sadness" (1989) to discuss national cinema, portrayals of national trauma, and the history of a small island nation caught in between different colonial powers. It was a challenging film, and I was pleasantly surprised by the lively discussions.
positive · AI labelView post →Movie years project Year 1989 (34/122) Now Watching Movie #8/10 A City of Sadness dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien
neutral · AI labelView post →Picking a random film from my collection to show off for no reason reason #filmsky #physicalmedia Day 6 A City of Sadness
neutral · AI labelView post →Last week in #Taiwan 🇹🇼 we visited historical ground. The Shengping Theater (cinema) in Jiufen, a gold mine mountain city an hour drive from #Taipei. Here is where in 1989 the #NewWave of Taiwanese #cinema was born, with the screening of revolutionary film ‘A City of Sadness’…
neutral · AI labelView post →#bestfilminlondontoday Sep 29 at capitalcelluloid.blogspot.com guide to London films. ‘one of the supreme masterworks of the contemporary cinema’ A CITY OF SADNESS with Tony Rayns intro at the Garden Cinema capitalcelluloid.blogspot.com/2025/09/capi...
neutral · AI labelView post →Watched A City of Sadness (1989) tonight for movie club. Very good - felt like the Taiwanese New Wave’s version of The Godfather. Sadly, the best option was the 480p internet archive upload, but it still did the trick. m.youtube.com/watch?v=caU7...
positive · AI labelView post →Literary/theory salon in Changhua Friday, 19th Dec! After a screening of A City of Sadness, Tzuchien Tho will speak about the film, then I will speak about the Unbecoming Trope of Suicide in Taiwanese Queer Literature (a project with Lainey Hsu). RSVP/more info: www.instagram.com/nice.h0use247/
neutral · AI labelView post →Recommend a film. Just a poster, with title Day 19 #filmsky A City of Sadness
neutral · AI labelView post →Reminds me of Taiwanese film A City of Sadness a scene where a group of chinese refugee speaks cantonese and shanghainese-wu in one room and someone has to translate all in hokkien
neutral · AI labelView post →“Chu T’-ien-wen is appealing in part because her literary fiction is underappreciated, at least compared to the acclaim she has won for her film work. She co-wrote A City of Sadness for Hou Hsiao-hsien. That should be enough. She adapted Flowers of Shanghai for him.“
neutral · AI labelView post →The problem with recommending this film is the specificity of time and location in Taiwan. It helps to know something of the complex history of Taiwan, just like Hsiao-Hsien Hou's films, such as A City of Sadness.
neutral · AI labelView post →2026 Film Reviews 391. Decision To Leave (2022) - 5.0 392. A City Of Sadness (1989) - 4.0 393. The Furious (2026) - 4.0 394. Go West (1925) - 5.0 395. Seven Chances (1925) - 5.0 #2026FilmsDH
positive · AI labelView post →I see you're going from china watcher to film watcher. What's your take on A City of Sadness (悲情城市)? Didn't manage to finish it. Wasn't able to follow the plot I think (language issues?)? Any China or Taiwan recommendations?
negative · AI labelView post →Last week in #Taiwan 🇹🇼 visiting historical ground. The Shengping Theater (cinema) in Jiufen, a gold mine mountain city an hour drive from Taipei. Here in 1989 the ‘New Wave of Taiwan cinema’ was born, with the screening of revolutionary film ‘A City of Sadness’ by Hsiao-Hsien Hou, son of a gold miner. People were called to the cinema by 2 children who walked the city with a banner, still hanging in the cinema. As is the window with the stills of the film. #acityofsadness #cinema #newwave…
neutral · AI labelView post →I thought A City of Sadness would easily be the most depressing film I saw this month and then I watched The Man Who Fell to Earth
neutral · AI labelView post →How does Criterion only have one Hou Hsiao-Hsien movie? And why can I not find A City of Sadness anywhere?
neutral · AI labelView post →Wu's movie is a loose account of his father's life as a coal miner, and eventual silicosis. it's pretty much his only directorial movie but he was a writer for many of the best Taiwanese new wave films, most notably Hou's "Dust in the Wind" and "A City of Sadness," Yang's "That Day, on the Beach"
neutral · AI labelView post →This film, even at 20 years old, may be the strongest cinematic statement I've ever seen against country "boundaries" and "imperialism". Between the beginning of the 20th century, Chinese people lived in Taiwan under Japanese rule for two generations. By WW II, they were living alongside the Japanese and the remaining (that's another story) indigenous peoples more or less peacefully. The Taiwanese, after two generations, were neither Chinese, nor Japanese, nor indigenous. When Japan lost the…
positive · AI labelView post →
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