The Green, Green Grass of Home

Hou Hsiao-hsien’s third feature finds him on the cusp of developing his mature style, sharpening his powers of human observation in a charming look at rural-urban culture clash. Kenny Bee plays a schoolteacher from Taipei who arrives in a small town to take a new job as instructor to a class of mischievous students. Hou captures the slice-of-life blend of comedy, romance, and everyday drama that ensues with gentle humanism and glimpses of the evocative long takes that would soon become his signature.

Starring Kenny Bee, Meifeng Chen, Jing-kuo Yen, Tsung-Sheng Lee