Product Details

• Actors: Tianlu Li, Giong Lim, Wenbing Li, Lai-Yin Yang, Hung Liou
• Directors: Hsiao-hsien Hou
• Format: Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: Cantonese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Fox Lorber
• DVD Release Date: September 25, 2001
• Run Time: 142 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005K9OO
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #91,693 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #76 in

  Movies & TV > Art House & International > Asian Cinema > Taiwan

• For more information about "The Puppetmaster" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Based on the actual memoirs of Li Tien-lu, Taiwan's most celebrated puppeteer, The Puppetmaster tells the epic tale of one man's sturgle against seemingly insurmountable adversary. Spanning the years from Li's birth in 1909 to the end of Janpan's 50-yr occupation of Taiwan in 1945, this remarkable true story captures the puppetmaster's hardships as well as the tragic sweep of this war-torn era. The portrait that emerges reflects the complex nature of Chinese culture under Japanese rule during the first half of the 20th Century.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great movie, bad format, September 27, 2001

By	wabrit (Derbyshire) - See all my reviews

It's wonderful to see Hou Hsiao-hsien's films available on DVD at last, given how difficult it is too see them in theaters, and this is a fascinating and rewarding film. But FoxLorber have in their wisdom decided to present it in fullscreen only which is a big, bad mistake because (1) With DVD you'd think they'd at least offer the choice of fullscreen vs. letterbox, and (2) Isn't it likely that most people who would bother to buy this DVD would want to see the film as originally intended by the director? Very disappointing and I will stick to my PAL VHS widescreen version of this movie instead.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A long awaited disappointment, October 12, 2001

By	H. TAN (Connecticut USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

THE PUPPETMASTER is probably the most accessible film in Hou Hsiao-Hsien's repertoire. A stunningly beautiful film based on the first 37 years of Li Tien-Lu's life in Japanese occupied Taiwan, the sophistication in the structure, cinematography, sound, and the interesting use of symbolism is hard to parallel. When I saw this film for the first time in NYC earlier this year, I was absolutely awed by the genuinely recreated atmosphere of an era that is simultaneously close and remote to me. Days, weeks, and even months after viewing, I found myself discovering more and more quality and meaning in the movie. I am glad I caught the last show of the week-long Hou Hsia-Hsien Festival at The Screening Room, because the DVD is just not the same. The full-screen cropping and the poor color rendition diminished the quality tremendously. It hurts to see a piece of great art being butchered like this. Imagine someone brought you a bad photocopy of 66% area of Van Gogh's Starry Night and said "You haven't seen this great painting, right? Here is a copy for you to enjoy." Winstar's effort to bring Hou's films to us is absolutely admirable, but unfortunately the effort is largely wasted. This comment is not meant to discourage Winstar from pursuing future projects. We just like to see a fine film being presented nicely, like FLOWERS FROM SHANGHAI.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hou's one of the most unknown great directors, September 22, 2001

By	Jeremy Heilman (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

...Hou's "The Puppetmaster" is actually a period drama that has no special effects in it at all. It deals with the life of a puppetmaster (no, not John Malkovich)in Taiwan in the late 19th century. The film integrates documentary interviews with its real life subject and fictional recreations of moments in his life. I'm not intimately familiar with the history of Taiwan, but this film makes this man's life parallel it. Most of the film takes place during Taiwan's occupation by Japan, and the film shows the way that the Taiwanese people were forced to give up a great deal of their culture (making the oral histories that the puppetmaster tells that much more valuable.)

Hou's style in this film uses a mostly static camera. He allows us to see the rhythm of Taiwanese life as it actually was. We get to see several demonstrations of the puppetmaster's talents, and we get to see "behind the scenes" as he gets his job and learns the trade. The narrator is displaced from his family by a result of his choice in career (since he needs to live with his mentor) and the film has an overall sense of both personal and national loss. It's not a film that has a great deal of action, and the average shot's length can be measured in minutes instead of seconds, so the 2 1/2 hour running time may be tough for some to swallow. Nonetheless, there are several stunning shots and an overall impact that you feel at the end of the film that make it more than worthwhile.