In the 1980s, a number of young directors joined Taiwan's film community. They made a bold break with tradition and gave rise to a new wave in local film. After a harsh winnowing, only Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang remained, the former noted for his excellent grasp of Taiwanese imagery and the latter for his clinical depiction of the urban middle class.
民國七十年代初，一群年輕導演投入台灣電影圈，他們勇於突破國內拍片傳統，在國內掀起一陣新電影浪潮，經過掏洗沈澱，最後以最能掌握本土影像的侯孝賢和擅長以冷調處理城市中產階級的楊德昌脫穎而出。