Cinematic Point Of View

Wow! What can I say about the film “A Summer At Grandpa’s?” I absolutely, unexpectedly loved it. It’s such a time capsule of growing up in the the 1980s. The film takes place in Taiwan but it feels very similar to my childhood growing up as a kid in the 1980s in Texas.

The story is about a brother and sister who are sent to stay with their grandparents in the country while their mother recovers from an illness in the hospital in the city. It’s about their experiences in the country. Running wild with new friends. Exploring rivers and the countryside without a parent around. Bumping into the adult world now and again.

It’s also about that time in your life when you begin to see and understand that your parents and your family aren’t perfect people. Your family experience isn’t the same as other people’s experiences. An awakening to some of the realities of this great wide world.

In many ways, this feels like a live action Studio Ghibli film except it’s far more rough around the edges and there are no giant furry tree monsters or cat buses.

I love the very minimalistic but artistically calculated filmmaking from director Hsiao-Hsien Hou. Beautiful shots of lush, green landscapes.

The musical score is minimal. Just lots and lots of natural sounds. A gentle breeze in the trees. The babbling of a brook. The cries of children playing and laughing. A buzz of a passing car or a distant ringing of a train whistle.

As the children explore their temporary world of freedom and try to manage their emotions about their mother, we see adult stories unfold around them. The grandparents forced to take on extra guests for an extended time and worry about their daughter. An unexpected pregnancy. A mysterious mentally challenged woman who wanders in and out of the story.

There is a real sense of danger and the unexpected the runs just under the surface of the lazy delights of a long summer afternoon. I recall this same feeling as a kid in the 80s. When you left the house to play with friends there were no cell phones or connection to your parents. You were on your own out there. I lived in the burbs but we were surrounded by lots of wooded areas and would get into all sorts of trouble left on our own. Days seemed to go on forever. Summers seemed to last for twice as long.

Much like those old days in my childhood, there’s a great sense of real-world time passing in almost every scene of “A Summer at Grandpa’s.” You could easily forget that this was acting and wonder if you’ve just stumbled onto a documentary. Time is such a critical part of this movie. It’s healing and refreshing.

If you like your movies with less of a plot and more of an exercise in character exploration, then you will likely love this movie. It’s about making memories and in the making of those memories I found myself remembering my own childhood summers and those feelings of wonder that lived within them.

I would honestly consider this one of my new favorite films. It’s so unlike almost anything else I’ve watched in such a long time. It’s been months since viewing it but it feels fresh in my mind and I think about it often.

Maybe it’s just the 50 year old me longing for those summer days gone by. Time spent with my beloved grandparents, no longer with me. Living in a world where it was easy to make new friends in an instant just by being another kid.

I look forward to exploring more films in the Hsiao-Hsien Hou filmography.