Dust in the Wind

Dust in the Wind is a 1986 Taiwanese film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It is based on co-screenwriter Wu Nien-jen's own experiences, and is the first of a trilogy of Hou and Wu's collaborations, the others being A City of Sadness (1989) and The Puppetmaster (1993). The film depicts the bittersweet love story of two village sweethearts, Ah Yuan (阿遠) and Ah Yun (阿雲), who left hometown Jiufen to work in Taipei city together after graduating from junior high school. It is highly acclaimed for Hou Hsiao-hsien's nostalgic depiction of Taiwan's rural past, when trains were the main transportation in the 1970s. The soundtrack by Chen Ming-chang (陳明章) and the cinematography by Lee Ping-bing (李屏賓) won the Best Cinematography and Music Award in Festival des 3 Continents in 1987.