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Terrorizers

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For the Matt Helm novel, see The Terrorizers.
For the 2021 film, see Terrorizers (2021 film).
Terrorizers
video cover
Chinese恐怖分子
Hanyu PinyinKǒngbù Fènzǐ
Directed byEdward Yang
Written by
Produced byHsu Kuo-liang
Starring
CinematographyChang Chan
Edited byLiao Ching-song
Music byWeng Hsiao-liang
Production
company
Release date
  • December 19, 1986 (1986-12-19)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryTaiwan
LanguageMandarin

The Terrorizers is a 1986 drama film by acclaimed Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang.

Plot

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Aimless young woman Shu An flees from the police with her criminal boyfriend Shun when his gang's apartment hideout is raided, injuring her leg when she jumps from a balcony. Unemployed photographer Qiang takes pictures of Shun being arrested, getting one of Shu watching it happen. Zhou Yufen, a woman suffering from depression after a miscarriage three years prior, struggles to write a novel about a couple with marital issues. The section chief of the hospital her husband Li Lizhong works at dies, leaving himself, his longtime friend and colleague Jing, and a third man up for the spot. He falsely implicates Jing for a crime the old chief committed, and Jing, believing the third man to be responsible, quits in indignation.

Shen, Zhou's old boss at a newspaper, rehires her. She explains that her stories often come from her surroundings and they begin an affair when he takes a genuine interest in her. Qiang's girlfriend, enraged at the pictures of Shu he has hung up in the apartment, attempts suicide while he is out photographing passersby. Stuck in her apartment while her leg heals, Shu places prank calls on both the gang's apartment (which Qiang rents to use as a darkroom) and other people in her building, including Li. Zhou picks up the phone and Shu asks her to meet at the apartment for "something to be settled" with him, though her mother catches her before she can go. Suspicious, Zhou goes to the apartment and encounters Qiang.

Zhou goes missing for several days before returning to her apartment, leaving Li because of his ignorance of her pain. A healed Shu goes to a club where the gang hangs out, where she seduces and robs a man. She returns to the gang's apartment and discovers Qiang has put up a collage of photos on his wall that form the picture of her. He admits he has become obsessed with her and, believing he will be drafted soon, kisses her and asks her to be with him when he returns. She steals and pawns his camera, buying him a cheaper one before leaving with a released Shun. After spending some time with his wealthy family, Qiang gets a draft notice and reconciles with his girlfriend.

Zhou's novel wins an award and Qiang recognizes her picture in the paper. His girlfriend mentions that the novel is about a man whose wife discovers he is cheating on her, so he kills her and himself. Believing Shu's call made Zhou suspicious that Li was having an affair, he contacts Li and gives him photos of Shu and Shun. Li pleads with Zhou to take him back and tries to force her when she rebuffs him. He is passed over for the promotion because of the separation's effect on his work, and when the hospital director's secretary claims he is out, he sees the director in the window of his office, trying to avoid him.

Li drinks with his police chief friend Gu, claiming he was given the promotion, and steals his gun in the morning. He kills the director before going to Shen's apartment, shooting him, and sparing Zhou. Shen survives the shooting and Li wanders the streets until he encounters Shu, who has been seducing and extorting men with Shun's help. He allows her to take him to a hotel room as the police converge on his location, and as Shu, wary of his strange behavior, takes out a knife, blood splatters across the wall. Gu wakes to find that Li actually shot himself, while Zhou wakes with Shen and vomits, leaving it ambiguous whether Shen’s shooting was her dream, Gu’s, Li’s, or if Zhou’s vomiting was due to morning sickness, hinting at a possible pregnancy.

Cast

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  • Cora Miao as Zhou Yufen, a depressed novelist
  • Lee Li-chun as Li Lizhong, a hospital professional and Zhou Yufen's husband
  • Chin Shih-chieh as Shen, Zhou Yufen's ex who owns a company
  • Wang An as teenaged hustler
  • Liu Min as the girl's mother
  • Yu An-shun as the girl's partner in crime
  • Ku Pao-ming as Gu, police chief and Li Lizhong's friend
  • Ma Shao-chun as young photographer from a rich family
  • Huang Chia-ching as the photographer's girlfriend

Reception and legacy

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Terrorizers is a part of the New Taiwan Cinema.[1] "Famously characterized by Marxist scholar Fredric Jameson as the postmodern film,[2][3] the film was likened by Yang himself to a puzzle where the pleasure lies in rearranging a multitude of relationships between characters, spaces, and genres."[4]

Awards and nominations

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References

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  1. ^ MUBI
  2. ^ Jameson, Fredric, The Geopolitical Aesthetic. “Remapping Taipei.” London: BFI Publishing, 1992, pp. 114-157.
  3. ^ Exiles in Modernity - Chicago Reader
  4. ^ Choi, Edo S.; Iovene, Paola, "A Time for Freedom: Taiwanese filmmakers in transition", Doc Films Spring 2009 Volume 3 Issue 3, Doc film society, University of Chicago, archived from the original on June 9, 2009, retrieved April 28, 2009
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