In his third feature, Chang Tso-chi wraps the sensibility of urban alienation and lost youth around a typical kids-in-gangland story and infuses it with his own gentle brand of magic realism.
They grow up together, living with their widower fathers and other family members, in a Hakka village infused with multiple local dialects in the suburbs of Taipei.
Mildly ashamed of their background, the long alley leading toward the edge of their village becomes their secret passage to escape to a surreal world where their poor and decaying neighborhood turns into a dream land.
Ah Min often stares blankly at the colorful tropical fish aquarium in the living room to mourn for her passing romance while counting toward the end of her life.
The international exposure of Chang Tso-chi's earlier works has helped him acquire much-needed investment and explore overseas markets.
"[3] Chicago Reader film critic, Shelly Kraicer, in her review of The Best of Times, praised Chang Tso-chi as “the poet of Taiwan’s second generation of filmmakers, a loosely defined group who followed new-wave masters such as Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang.” She further described that Chang Tso-chi’s third feature film, The Best of Times, is “more visionary experiments than narrative exercises.
Chang Yi wrote four songs for this film: Youth (青春), Rainbow Rain (七彩的雨), I Am a Fish (我是魚), and The Best of Times (美麗時光).
The soundtrack also includes a brand new guitar remix, played by Chang Yi, of Lin Hui Ping's 1991 classic song, Station.