Edward Yang - Themes

Themes

Yang attempted to examine the struggle between the modern and the traditional in his films, as well as the relationship between business and art, and how greed may corrupt, influence, or affect art. For that reason, many of his films (other than Yi Yi) are extremely difficult to find, since Yang did not consider selling films for money his primary purpose as an artist.

Also, Yang always set his works in the cities of Taiwan. As a result, Yang's films - especially A Confucian Confusion, Taipei Story, Mahjong and The Terrorizers, are commentaries on Taiwanese urban life and insightful explorations of Taiwanese urban society.

He has also collaborated with many of his fellow Taiwanese filmmakers in his films: for instance, in Yi Yi he cast as the lead well-known auteur, novelist, and screenwriter Nien-Jen Wu, director of the award-winning Duo Sang, or A Borrowed Life, which Martin Scorsese has cited as one of his favorite works and one of the most influential films of the '90s. He also cast fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien as the lead in his 1985 film, Taipei Story. Yang also taught Theatre and Film classes at the Taipei National University of the Arts. Several of his students showed up in his films as actors/actresses.