Execution in Autumn / Qiu jue (1972) [Masters of Cinema - Eureka!]

Director: Hsing Lee
Writer: Yung-Hsiang Chang
Stars: Hui-Lou Chen, Shao-Ching Chou, Bi-Hui Fu

Referred to as “the godfather of Taiwanese cinema”, the films of director Lee Hsing (who passed away in 2021 at the age of 91) combined Western realism with the neo-Confucian ideals advocated by the nationalist government in Taiwan. Director of a number of masterpieces, presented here is the film he considered his personal favourite of all his films—and certainly his most successful—Execution in Autumn.

Since his childhood, Pei Gang (Ou Wei) has been spoiled by his rich grandmother who raised him after the death of his parents. Unable to control himself, in a fit of rage, Gang kills a pregnant woman – who indicated him as the father of her unborn child – and her cousins; for this he is sentenced to death, and will be beheaded in autumn, the traditional season for executions. His grandmother tries to save him, but this proves to be a task beyond her means. So she makes him marry the young Lian (Tang Pao-yun), an orphan raised within the family, in prison, so that the Pei line does not die out.

Featuring a screenplay by Chang Yung-hsiang (who also wrote another Lee Hsing masterwork, Beautiful Duckling), Execution in Autumn comes to Blu-ray for the first time ever as part of the Masters of Cinema series, in time for its 50th anniversary.

Extras:
- 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a stunning 2K restoration of the original film elements undertaken by the Taiwan Film Institute
- Original Mandarin audio (uncompressed LPCM)
- New video interview with film critic Tony Rayns (44 mins)
- Restoration footage comparison
- Optional English subtitles, newly revised by Rayns for this release




All thanks to the original uploader