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Terrorizers

162 votes

An uncompromising look into urban life from the eyes of a voyeuristic photographer, a rebellious teenager, and a married couple teetering on the edge of adultery.

Status: Released

Released Date: 1986-12-19

Runtime: 109 mins

Director: Edward Yang

Writer: Edward Yang, Hsiao Yeh

Spoken language: 普通话

Genres: Drama, Crime

Original title: Terrorizers

Production Companies: Central Motion Picture Corporation

Production Countries: Taiwan

Cast

Cora Miao

Lee Lichun

King Shih-Chieh

Ku Pao-Ming

Liu Ming

Wang An

Shao-Chun Ma

Yu An-Shun

Little Qiang's Girlfriend

Chia-ching Huang

Shanqun Hong

Little Jin

Chonghua Ni

Ming-Yang Shih

Business Manager Brothel Frequenter

Feng Kang Chu

Te-Ming Lu

Reviews

Geronimo1967

This is my first foray into the world of Edward Yang and though I cannot claim to have followed all of the plot in this complex drama, it is still an oddly compelling watch. Oddly? Well that's because though the characters appear real enough in a plausible sense, the storyline develops itself and them in a none-too-predictable, not always coherent, fashion. We start with a scene that I suspect would have had the local tourist board in conniptions. A shoot-out between a drug-dealing gang and the police that leaves a body lying in the street. Even trying to move that proves perilous. That peril continues to run throughout the story as we meet a dysfunctionally married couple. He, "Li" (Li-Chun Lee) is a writer who's suffering from a fairly terminal block. She "Zhou" (Cora Miao) is an aspiring clinician who cannot quite reconcile the significance of his failure with her own need for satisfaction (professionally and emotionally). This relationship continues to serve as a conduit for a rather broad-brush look at urban life in Taiwan that includes just about every aspect of human behaviour including the scene-stealing efforts of brothel-keeper "Shu An" (Wang An) who fleeces her clients whilst they are in flagrante delicto and who is, herself, the object of the desire of a photographer who proves to be of some interest to the police. What's curious about this film is that you start off assuming it's all a sort of gangster flick with the locals under the yoke. What it gradually turns into is a story about "terror" in it's multiple guises - and the most potent illustrations of that are not necessarily located where we think they ought to be. I reckon this needs a couple of viewings to get the best from it as there's plenty to get your teeth into as these characters develop quite distinctly into people - love them or hate them!

2023-09-04

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