A slow and intricate study of a small Taiwanese family as they suffer the tragedies beset upon them by each other. This is a beautiful film that manages to sincerely depict human emotion and character. The characters feel extremely real and well realised, while the story is so subtly constructed that it feels like a documentary rather than fictional film. This is occasionally disrupted by the film’s choice of music which swings between sombre and comical but other than that, the whole approach is rather grounded and controlled. The cinematography and editing almost always manage to stay invisible, succeeding in evoking emotion without being too dramatic. But all of this works because the performances are moving and the cast always holds your attention. A stellar find.