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Building, Feeling, and Understanding Violence

 Edward Yang’s A Brighter Summer Day, Taipei Story, and Terrorizers

Across these films, Yang develops a visual and temporal language that communicates the slow, gradual building of violence—physical, social, and cultural—in a society shaped by dislocation, authoritarianism, modernization, and residual colonialism. Yang’s Italian neorealist-inspired films use lingering shots, wide coverage, juxtaposing compositions, and organic surroundings to perform social analyses of the psychological weight of a nation in transition. In doing so, they fulfill one of the main purposes of art cinema: making sense of life.

"I Want to Be Capable"

Feminist Defiance in Cassavetes’ Opening Night

Though the New Hollywood movement was redefining mainstream cinema with gritty portraits of male antiheroes grappling with violence, urban decay, and psychological trauma, women on screen were often relegated to symbolic roles—as victims, muses, or moral casualties of a changing era. At the same time, the United States was embroiled in the second wave of feminism and the intensifying conservative backlash. Vocal figures like Phyllis Schlafly warned that feminism would “reengineer” the family structure and destroy traditional gender roles. Against this ideological battleground, Cassavetes’ 1977 film Opening Night stands out—placing a woman not just at the center of a narrative, but in the position of dismantling it. 

Satire in Pride and Prejudice

Challenging Society and the Sentimental Novel

While Austen’s second novel Pride and Prejudice heavily engages with the conventions of love and marriage, she imbues the story with irony and satirical humor, challenging the idealized, sympathetic image of romance and the societal pressures facing women, and men, in the Regency era. Through exaggerated characterizations, free indirect discourse, and ironic misjudgments, Austen exposes the flaws of sentimentalism and society, crafting a love story that values self growth and mutual respect.

The Death of the Counterculture

Commodification and Rebellion in Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point

In Zabriskie Point, Antonioni critiques widespread consumerism in American society, using the youth and counterculture movement as symbols of resistance while also reflecting on the limits of their revolutionary ideals. Through pop art-influenced imagery and the use of music by Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Kaleidoscope, and Jerry Garcia, the film explores the general irony and inaction of the hippie movement.

Science Fiction and the Doom of Humanity

From A Trip to the Moon to Ex Machina

As science and technology develop, societies are driven to embrace transformative social changes. While these advancements hold the promise of progress, they also evoke apprehensions of impending danger. Thus, cinematic narratives emerge as a powerful medium for articulating these anxieties about the future, allowing filmmakers to project societal fears onto the screen and engage audiences in a thought-provoking discourse on the potential consequences of scientific and technological evolution.

The Manhattan Project

Triumph and Tragedy

The dropping of the atomic bombs inflicted a huge tragedy on Japan, instantly killing at least 120,000 people. It then led to the dangerous, unpredictable Cold War era, following the end of World War II. Despite the inevitable tragedy, the success of the Manhattan Project won the most significant triumph for the United States and the Allies. Within days of the dropping of the bombs, Japan announced their surrender. This ended the atrocity of World War II which was started in 1939 by Hitler’s Germany, taking a total of 35 to 60 million lives around the world by the end of the war in 1945.

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