KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 26 — Acclaimed Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien has decided to stop making movies as his dementia worsens.
The 76-year-old is considered one of the greatest directors of the 21st century. His latest condition was recently revealed by film scholar Tony Rayns during a screening of Hou’s 1985 drama The Time To Live And The Time To Die at the Garden Cinema in London.
Entertainment website IndieWire has confirmed Hou’s retirement with a source close to the director and with Dr George Crosthwait, the film curator of the Garden Cinema, The Straits Times reported.
It was said that Hou's family did not announce his health condition publicly as they were seeking privacy on the issue.
Hou made his directorial debut with romantic drama Lovable You in 1980 which starred the late Taiwanese singer Fong Fei-fei and Hong Kong pop band The Wynners’ Kenny Bee and Anthony Chan.
His other notable works include The Puppetmaster (1993), Goodbye South, Goodbye (1996) and Flowers Of Shanghai (1998).
His final film as a director was The Assassin, a 2015 martial arts film starring Taiwanese actress Shu Qi and Taiwanese actor Chang Chen. The film won him the Best Director at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and 2015 Golden Horse Awards.
Previously, he won the Best Director title twice at the Golden Horse Awards for A City Of Sadness (1989) and Good Men, Good Women (1995).
He was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award during the Golden Horse Awards in November 2020.
Previously, media had reported that Hou was suffering from Parkinson’s disease but was debunked by his long-time working partner, screenwriter Chu Tien-wen, who said Hou actually had poor memory due to old age.
Hou was last seen in public in April 2022 when he attended the screening of the remastered 4K version of the crime movie Dust Of Angels (1992), produced by him and directed by Hsu Hsiao-ming.
