Good Men, Good Women

Hou again looks at recent Taiwanese history. The story centres on an actress mourning her lover who's convinced she's receiving silent phone calls from the person who stole her diary. She begins to identify with the character she's playing in a movie about a couple involved in the Resistance during the '40s and '50s. With its narrative switching between past and present, 'reality' and the film-within-a-film, Hou's movie is complex and challenging, but never inaccessible. Blending the personal with the political to typically resonant effect, it's a multi-layered exploration of changing cultural ideals, haunted memories, and the joys and pains of love. With patience, it soon becomes clear this is some sort of masterpiece.