If you loved The Time to Live and the Time to Die, try A City of Sadness

A bridge between a film you've already seen and one most people haven't. Here's what they share, and what the second one does that the first one doesn't.

What they share

Both films are directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien, and they both carry the foreign gem, slow burn mood tags, and they sit in Drama territory. If that's the register that drew you to The Time to Live and the Time to Die, the second film will land in a comparable space — through a different lens.

foreign gemslow burn

What A City of Sadness is

Taiwan’s White Terror meets a family saga. A clan fractures under KMT pressure between 1947 and 1987. The era’s quiet violence lingers through Hou’s layered long takes.

Ask for a deeper bridge

Discover modes
About & sources
Built with care for saturated cinephiles. · TBS Digital Studio ☕ Buy us a coffee
Refine your taste
What vibe?

Extra filters

Date night mode Skip gore, bleak endings
Watching with kids Age-appropriate only
Kids ages?