After joining Lai Man-wai's China Sun Company in Shanghai, Hou Yao began shaping a unique directorial style for himself. In A Poet from the Sea , Hou stars as a poet who flees the city to live in isolation on a deserted island. After the poet loses his sight, he sails towards the sunset with his lover, searching for a new peaceful home to call their own. Hou channeled the internal dilemma he experienced during the Warlords era in his performance as the crazed poet, a man who turns to an extreme choice to escape the chaos in his life. This is the story of a man who only has the heart for art and literature, a devotion that is beyond any political or nationalist belief. Several years ago, a print of the film was discovered in Italy. Containing only the basic structure of the story, the surviving footage reveals gorgeous shots of the coast near Stanley, offering us a rare view of the city in the 1920's, as well as a small peek at the city as a cultural melting pot in that era.

Screening Courtesy of Cineteca di Bologna

9/2

(Sun)

2:30pm

Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

22/2

(Sat)

2:30pm

Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive

Double bill with Way Down West