Wu Nien-jen

Writing

Wu Nien-jen

Born

1952-08-05 (74)

Place of birth

Juifang, Taipei, Taiwan

Known for

Writing

Credits

65 titles

Wu Nien-jen (Chinese: 吳念真; born 5 August, 1952) is a Taiwanese screenwriter, director, and writer. He is one of the most prolific and highly regarded scriptwriters in Taiwan and a leading member of the New Taiwanese Cinema, although he has also acted in a number of films, like Edward Yang's film Yi Yi (2000).

Known for

Golden Horse Awards poster
9.0

The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards (Chinese: 台北金馬影展; pinyin: Táiběi Jīnmǎ Yǐngzhǎn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-pak Kim-má iáⁿ-tián) is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is usually held in November or December in Taipei, although the event has also been held in other locations in Taiwan in recent times

Golden Horse Awards

1962

36 Questions poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

36 Questions

2020

A City of Sadness poster
7.5

The story of a family embroiled in the "White Terror," the Kuomintang government's anti-communist political repression that was wrought on the Taiwanese people from 1947-1987.

A City of Sadness

1989

Yi Yi poster
8.0

Each member of a family in Taipei asks hard questions about life's meaning as they live through everyday quandaries. NJ is morose: his brother owes him money, his mother is in a coma, his wife suffers a spiritual crisis when she finds her life a blank and his business partners make bad decisions.

Yi Yi

2000

Taipei Story poster
7.5

A young woman urgently seeks to navigate the maze of contemporary Taipei and find a future. She hopes that her boyfriend Lung is the key to the future, but Lung is stuck in a past that combines baseball and traditional loyalty that leads him to squander his nest egg bailing her father out of financial trouble.

Taipei Story

1985

The Year of Happiness and Love poster
9.5

Jiang Chen-bo is a loser without prospects for success, until a surprise promotion becomes the catalyst for his entire family's upturn in fortune.

The Year of Happiness and Love

2009

Film credits

2020s · 5 titles

2010s · 5 titles

My Egg Boy poster
5.5

Even in modern-day Taipei, women feel the societal pressure to get married and have children before the clock runs out. Thankfully, there is a solution: freeze your eggs and prolong your fertility until the right one comes along! Starring Ariel Lin, the film is a glimpse of what millions of working women struggle with: finding the balance between pursuing a career and marriage.

My Egg Boy

2016

Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above poster
7.7

Documenting Taiwan from an aerial perspective offering a glimpse of Taiwan's natural beauty as well as the effect of human activities and urbanization on our environment.

Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above

2013

Zone Pro Site: The Moveable Feast poster
6.3

Wan returns home with an enormous debt after her modelling career fails, only to find that her family's restaurant has dwindled down to a single noodle stand. The situation is hopeless until a master chef decides to help her family return to glory.

Zone Pro Site: The Moveable Feast

2013

The Boar King poster
6.0

When Cho loses her husband Ying and her family business in a massive typhoon, she is devastated.Then the villagers begin receiving mail from Ying. Is he really dead?

The Boar King

2014

Fly, Kite Fly poster
10.0

The black kite, generally referred to as “the eagle” in Taiwan, used to be very widespread and so common that it is the main character in a well-known Taiwanese children’s game. However, it has now become so rare that very few people ever get to see it. SHEN Zhen-zhong, better known as “Mr. Kite” who vowed to safeguard this endangered bird, is determined that he spent the best 20 years of his life traveling throughout Taiwan to find out why the black kite is disappearing. From 1992 to 2015, the film documentary maker LIANG Chieh-te followed Mr. Kite’s journey. Through his camera lenses, the story of how, one person can cross the species barrier and totally devote himself to a cause with no regrets because of love.

Fly, Kite Fly

2015

1980s · 7 titles

A City of Sadness poster
7.5

The story of a family embroiled in the "White Terror," the Kuomintang government's anti-communist political repression that was wrought on the Taiwanese people from 1947-1987.

A City of Sadness

1989

Taipei Story poster
7.5

A young woman urgently seeks to navigate the maze of contemporary Taipei and find a future. She hopes that her boyfriend Lung is the key to the future, but Lung is stuck in a past that combines baseball and traditional loyalty that leads him to squander his nest egg bailing her father out of financial trouble.

Taipei Story

1985

That Day, on the Beach poster
7.5

Two friends who haven't seen each other for thirteen years reunite. One is a successful concert pianist just back from a European tour and the other has just started a new business.

That Day, on the Beach

1983

That Day, on the Beach poster
7.5

Two friends who haven't seen each other for thirteen years reunite. One is a successful concert pianist just back from a European tour and the other has just started a new business.

That Day, on the Beach

1983

Daughter of the Nile poster
7.2

Lin Hsiao-yang tries to keep her family together while working as a waitress at Kentucky Fried Chicken and going to night school. With no mother and her father currently working out of town, it is up to Lin Hsiao-yang to take care of her younger siblings, who are slipping into a life of crime.

Daughter of the Nile

1987

My Favorite Season poster
8.5

Bi Bao-Liang is a 29 year-old man who believes that he will have bad luck if he touches a woman before he turns thirty. Liu Xiang-mei is a beautiful woman who had a love affair with her married boss, and now she is pregnant. In order to give her child a family name, she decides to find a man to have a one-year marriage contract. Bi Bao-Liang is the perfect man she is looking for because he is afraid of women. However, their marriage does not follow what they've planned...

My Favorite Season

1985

I Love Mary poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

I Love Mary

1988

Series credits

Behind the camera

A City of Sadness poster
7.5

The story of a family embroiled in the "White Terror," the Kuomintang government's anti-communist political repression that was wrought on the Taiwanese people from 1947-1987.

A City of Sadness

1989

Dust in the Wind poster
7.6

A-yuan and A-yun are both from the small mining town of Jio-fen. They move to Taipei, where A-yuan is an apprentice by day and goes to night school, and A-yun works as a helper at a tailors. Everyone thinks they are meant for each other, and so do they. They fail to see time and fate are beyond their control.

Dust in the Wind

1986

Zodiac Killers poster
4.7

Hong Kong student Ben Lee becomes friends with his mainland Chinese classmate Chang Chih while studying abroad in Japan. Ben is unmotivated to study and only cares about money and on the other hand, whenever Chih encounters a Chinese person, he would ask whereabouts of his childhood sweetheart. Ming is also from Hong Kong and in order to elevate his social status, he becomes involved with a bar hostess and owner Yuriko, hoping to become Yakuza leader Yamada Ishikawa's brother in-law.

Zodiac Killers

1991

The Puppetmaster poster
6.6

Master puppeteer Li Tien-lu recalls his life in Japanese-occupied Taiwan during the first half of the 20th century.

The Puppetmaster

1993

10 Plus 10 poster
5.7

10+10 is a project initiated by the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival to demonstrate the solidarity between Taiwanese film-makers. 20 directors are invited to make a 5-minute short film each on the theme of the “Uniqueness of Taiwan,” but allowed total freedom in all other aspects.

10 Plus 10

2011

The Sandwich Man poster
7.1

Composed of three separate stories, the film vividly portrays Taiwan during the cold war period when the country developed its economy with help from the United States.

The Sandwich Man

1983

Song of the Exile poster
7.6

Set in the early 1970s, it tells the story of a Chinese-Japanese student who returns to her native Hong Kong after graduating from a university in London. Once she arrives back home, she and her family begin to fight, largely due to cultural and societal conflicts between her mother and herself.

Song of the Exile

1990

Hill of No Return poster
7.4

In 1920s Taiwan, Jou, a controversial woman with a tragic past, seeks to change her life after falling for a man named Che. Meanwhile, a man named Wei seeks to buy the freedom of Fumiko, a dying young woman.

Hill of No Return

1992

That Day, on the Beach poster
7.5

Two friends who haven't seen each other for thirteen years reunite. One is a successful concert pianist just back from a European tour and the other has just started a new business.

That Day, on the Beach

1983

All the King's Men poster
7.3

It's the 10th century BC, the emperor is not well, and the medicines he is receiving from con artist "Immortal Li" are in reality only making him worse.

All the King's Men

1983

End of the Road poster
7.0

Fan Long (played by Liang Chaowei), the staff officer of the National Army, escaped from the captive camp and returned to the National Army camp through all the difficulties. The soldier Ading (played by Lin Zhiying) also returned to the army, and the veteran Lao Xie (played by Wu Mengda) gave him the care of the Ading brother who lost his comrades-in-arms. Commander He of the National Army (played by Ke Junxiong) negotiated with the Myanmar side and tried to put down his weapons and return to it. Fan Long planned to save some of the weapons, but the Myanmar side killed the National Army. It all relied on Fan Long, and the National Army was able to break through. However, the team soon differentiated. Fan Long and others defected to the bandits, and Commander He led the rest to submit to the Thai government. The soldiers of the National Army who were exiled to the Golden Triangle launched an outstanding struggle for survival

End of the Road

1993

The Dull-Ice Flower poster
8.3

Ku Ah-ming is a 4th grader at Chungshan Elementary School in Shuiyu Township, Taiwan. Despite being not very good in most subjects at school, he is very talented in art and has a great imagination, though most teachers don't know what he's expressing in his artwork.

The Dull-Ice Flower

1989

Papa, Can You Hear Me Sing? poster
7.0

A poor army veteran in Taiwan adopts a daughter. She grows up and leaves him to enter show business. When she becomes famous she shuns her father and friends.

Papa, Can You Hear Me Sing?

1983

Osmanthus Alley poster
6.8

Ti Hung's parents die when she is twelve. When she is sixteen, she determines to change her fate, swearing to rise from her poverty. She becomes famous for her embroidery and eventually marries into a rich family, but tragedy ensues.

Osmanthus Alley

1987

The First Stitch poster
NR

Set in the southern port of Kaohsiung, a comedy-romance between a shy young tailor and a 'tart with a heart', both of whom have their different dreams. Based on the short story by Yang Ching-chu.

The First Stitch

1984

The Two of Us poster
10.0

After having their son, a young couple divorces, with the child remaining with the father. The two endure poverty because the father has trouble finding and keeping jobs. Story mainly focuses on the father-son relationship and difficulties of being a single parent.

The Two of Us

1987

Winter Break poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

Winter Break

1989

Love Is Grown with Flower poster
7.0

A farming village is undergoing change. Some of the young people want to live in the city, while others stay behind and try to help the older residents adjust to a new scheme of growing flowers to sell at market instead of rice.

Love Is Grown with Flower

1987

The Woman of Wrath poster
5.8

A woman resorts to prostitution out of hunger and commits suicide shortly after, leaving her daughter to embark on an equally cruel path.

The Woman of Wrath

1984

Autumn Tempest poster
NR

Accustomed to the life of a young master, Wen Hsieng is forced to compromise under the pressure of family members, and arranges to go to the mountain temple to study. The environment in the temple makes it difficult for him to adapt to.

Autumn Tempest

1988

Fatal Recall poster
9.0

Fatal Recall is a Taiwanese Thriller starring Alex Man

Fatal Recall

1991

Classmate poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Classmate

1981

A Borrowed Life poster
7.1

Sega's children, born into post-war Chinese rule, can't relate to their father's love for Japanese culture, having grown up under Japanese rule before WWII.

A Borrowed Life

1995

A Borrowed Life poster
7.1

Sega's children, born into post-war Chinese rule, can't relate to their father's love for Japanese culture, having grown up under Japanese rule before WWII.

A Borrowed Life

1995

Nature Is Quietly Beautiful poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Nature Is Quietly Beautiful

1984

Joe-Goody poster
10.0

Jen, nicknamed Ah Dai, had been a rebellious child. He fled home the age of 16. A few years later, he became the driver of the leader of the Underworld, Mr. Lin. He was deeply moved by the kindness and care Mr. & Mrs. Lin showed him, grateful enough to do anything for them in return. Ah Dai observed the conflicts and struggle for privileges in the Underworld, and its strange interactions with the police.

Joe-Goody

1992

Lessons of the Playground poster
6.0

Taiwanese film directed by Chin Ao-hsin.

Lessons of the Playground

1989

Forever Friends poster
5.2

A couple of friends join the Taiwanese army to fight the Mainland Chinese. But life in the army isn't all that they dreamed off....

Forever Friends

1995

My American Grandson poster
7.0

A 12-year-old boy from America experiences the clash of cultures and the generation gap when he visits his grandfather in Shanghai.

My American Grandson

1991

The City poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The City

1982

The Loser, the Hero poster
7.0

A boy's disappointing scores on the college entrance exam bring shame down on his family.

The Loser, the Hero

1985

The Third Bridge poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Third Bridge

1988

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Young and Happy School Music

1988

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Wanpi Nansheng Qiao Nusheng

1984

Two Painters poster
6.8

Adaptation of Huang Chunming's short story "The Two Signpainters".

Two Painters

1989

Taste of Mercy poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Taste of Mercy

1985

Honor Thy Father poster
8.0

After his twin dies as a baby, the protagonist's family has little hope for his survival. But as he grows older, he discovers baseball, and much to his father's chagrin, he begins playing. He will go on to be a star baseball player.

Honor Thy Father

1989

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Is Q Still Alive?

1983

Send in the Clowns poster
10.0

Two sisters are part of a cabaret act that is rapidly declining in attendance, and although the older sisteris constantly trying to push her younger sister to the forefront in a solo act, the younger sibling is less than enthusiastic. She sees little future in show business, whether in the chorus line or up front -- and so when her older sister finally pulls off a deal for the two to go to Taipei and possibly make some "real money," the younger sister must say yes or no, and either way, one of the two will not be happy.

Send in the Clowns

1983

Sunless Days poster
7.0

Director Shu Kei travelled to Venice, Canada, London and Hong Kong, collecting accounts of the Tiananmen impact. Among his interviewees are: award-winning Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien; Hong Kong director Alfred Cheung, a witness to the massacre; actress Deanne Ip, whose national consciousness is fired by the event; as well as his own brothers, one who soon migrates from Hong Kong, and the other, already an Australian emigre. Their personal testimonies are pieced together into a mural of the Chinese people united in their horror and outrage.

Sunless Days

1990