ABSTRACT
In 2004, Hou Hsiao-hsien released his first non-Chinese-language film Café Lumiere, a Shochiku Films production in Japanese, with Japanese stars and supposedly, a homage to Ozu Yasujiro on the occasion of the director’s 100th birthday. With this film Hou positioned himself securely within a distinguished pantheon of East Asian international art cinema. Not surprisingly, Café Lumiere received meager box-office returns in Taiwan, but this time it did not count against Hou or the dismal record of domestic productions at home.
