A Sun

This article is about the 2019 film. For the star, see Sun. For other uses, see Sun (disambiguation) and The Sun (disambiguation).

A Sun
Theatrical release poster
Literally	Shining on all things
Directed by	Chung Mong-hong
Written by	Chung Mong-hong Chang Yao-sheng
Produced by	Yeh Ju-feng Tseng Shao-chien
Starring	Chen Yi-wen Samantha Ko Wu Chien-ho Liu Kuan-ting
Cinematography	Chung Mong-hong
Edited by	Lai Hsiu-hsiung
Music by	Lin Sheng-xiang
Production company	3 NG Film
Distributed by	Applause Entertainment
Release dates	6 September 2019 (2019-09-06) (Toronto) 1 November 2019 (2019-11-01) (Taiwan) 24 January 2020 (2020-01-24) (Netflix)
Running time	155 minutes
Country	Taiwan
Languages	Taiwanese Mandarin Taiwanese Hokkien
Budget	NT$44 million
Box office	NT$20 million

A Sun (Chinese: 陽光普照) is a 2019 Taiwanese drama film directed and co-written by Chung Mong-hong. The film stars Chen Yi-wen, Samantha Ko, Wu Chien-ho, Greg Hsu, and Liu Kuan-ting. Its story centres on Chen Jian Ho (Wu), a troubled teenager who has been arrested, and Hao (Hsu), Ho's accomplished brother who commits suicide due to familial pressure. It explores Ho's re-entry into society and his father's efforts to acknowledge his son, something he had never done. Juvenile delinquency and suicide are the film's main themes, with visual motifs including light and dark. The film, which incorporates many conventions of Asian cinema, also explores socioeconomic inequality in Taiwan.

It was conceived after a high-school friend told Chung about a crime he had committed as a teenager. This became the opening sequence, which prefaces the narrative. Chang Yao-sheng was enlisted to co-write the screenplay with Chung, a process which took over a year. Filming began in 2018, with a tight 38-day schedule for budgetary reasons. Chung asked the cast not to consult him about their acting and rehearse on their own, although he would often direct them during filming. He was also the film's cinematographer under the pseudonym of Nagao Nakashima, using a variety of techniques to depict its ambivalent tone. Lai Hsiu-hsiung edited the film, and Lin Sheng-xiang composed the score.

A Sun premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September 2019, before its theatrical release in Taiwan. The film under-performed financially, as did Chung's previous films. It was released on Netflix in 2020; it did not receive significant attention due to poor marketing, although Peter Debruge of Variety called it the best film of 2020. The film received many positive reviews for its story, diversity of themes, audiovisual quality, and acting. It received a number of accolades, including 11 nominations at the 56th Golden Horse Awards; it received the Best Feature Film award and the Best Director award for Chung. The film was the Taiwanese entry for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, where it made the 15-film shortlist.

Plot

In 2013 Taipei, troubled teenager Chen Jian-ho and his friend, Radish, approach a young man named Oden at a restaurant; unbeknownst to Ho, Radish cuts off Oden's hand with a machete. Ho is sentenced to juvenile detention, and Radish receives a harsher sentence. Ho's father, Wen, disowns him; his wife Qin, however, visits their son in prison. Wen focuses on Ho's shy older brother, Hao, who is attending a cram school for medical school. Wen is pestered for money at his job as a driving instructor by Oden's father; he refuses to pay, claiming no legal responsibility because his son did not injure Oden.

Fifteen-year-old Wang Ming-yu and her guardian, Aunt Yin, meet Qin; she is pregnant with Ho's child. Although Qin supports her throughout the pregnancy, Ho is not informed of it. Hao tells him, and Ho rages against the longtime secrecy. That night, Hao commits suicide by jumping from the apartment balcony. Guo Xiao-zhen, Hao's romantic interest, tells Qin that Hao had texted her that he was overwhelmed by the attention on him and had nowhere to hide from the scrutiny. Ho and Yu marry; Wen continues to ignore him when he is released a year and a half later, and Ho works at a car wash to support his family. Wen, tormented by visions of his dead son, goes out one night to buy cigarettes. He sees Ho at a convenience store at which his son had taken a night shift; they speak briefly about Hao, and seem to reconcile.

Ho is approached for money three years later by the recently-released Radish, but he refuses. Radish later picks him up at work, telling him to fire a gun at a legislator's office, and he grudgingly does so. Wen, alarmed by Radish, offers him money to stay away from his son; Radish refuses. Radish visits Ho late at night at the car wash, coercing him to borrow a client's car and go for a drive. They stop on a forested highway, where Radish tells Ho to enter a park and deliver a package to a group of men; he is paid a large sum of money. Radish is missing when he returns, and he flees.

A group of thugs kidnap Ho sometime later and demand the money, explaining that Radish was found dead. After Ho gives them the money, they beat him and drop him off on an overpass. Atop Qixing Mountain, Wen tells Qin that he had been skipping work to tail Ho and Radish. He saw their late-night drive, Wen attacked Radish when Ho left to get the money, dragged him into the forest, and killed him with a rock. As Qin reacts in horror, Wen explains that this was the best way he could think of to help his only remaining son.

Ho and his mother later bond over a stack of old notebooks which Wen had given Hao at medical school, each labeled with Wen's motto: "Seize the day, decide your path"; all are empty. They ride a tandem bicycle through a park, and the ambivalent Qin gazes at the surrounding scenery.

Cast

Supporting cast

Ivy Yin (left, pictured in 2008) played Yin, Wang Ming-yu's aunt and guardian. Wen Chen-ling (pictured in 2016) played Guo Xiao-zhen, Chen Jian-hao's romantic interest.

• Chen Yi-wen as Wen (文), father of Chen Jian-ho and Hao and husband of Qin. He works as a driving instructor; his driving school has the slogan "Seize the day, decide your path", which he uses as a moral principle.
• Samantha Ko as Qin (琴姐), mother of Ho and Hao and wife of Wen. She owns and is a hairdresser for a salon, which she relocates midway through the film.
• Wu Chien-ho as Chen Jian-ho (陳建和), son of Wen and Qi and younger brother of Hao. He and Radish are imprisoned for assault, and he receives a lighter sentence. He impregnates Xiao Yu, marrying her before his release, and works as a car washer and a cashier to support his family.
• Greg Hsu as Chen Jian-hao (陳建豪), son of Wen and Qi and elder brother of Ho. The more accomplished and better-mannered son, he is studying to prepare for medical school. He becomes depressed and commits suicide.
• Liu Kuan-ting as Radish, who orders Ho to follow him in the assault. After his release, he offers Ho criminal jobs for extra money. His Chinese name is Cai Tou (菜頭).
• Apple Wu as Wang Ming-yu (王明玉), a 15-year-old, ninth-grade student impregnated by Ho. Qin supports her throughout her pregnancy, and she works as a hairdresser. She is colloquially referred to as Xiao Yu.
• Wen Chen-ling as Guo Xiao-zhen (郭曉貞), Hao's classmate and romantic interest, who notices his gradual descent into depression and receives his poetic suicide text.
• Ivy Yin as Yin (姐), Yu's aunt, who rescued her from a burning bus in 2003.

Production

Background and pre-production

With a painful howl, a hand is slashed off by the wrist. The hand drops into a pot of boiling soup. The wrist hangs lonely at the side of the pot. The victim is screaming. The wound is bleeding like a running tap. Blood is spraying all over the place. A-[H]o stands staring at everything in front of him. It happens too fast for him to react. He never imagined that a confrontation would end this way. He doesn’t even know that his troubles are just emerging. Many more disasters are waiting for him ahead.

— Chung Mong-hong beginning the screenplay of A Sun, prefacing the film's succeeding events

Director Chung Mong-hong conceived A Sun when he met his once-troubled high-school friend, who told him about how he and his friend had cut off someone's hand in his youth and how it affected him psychologically for some time. Later, while having dinner with friends and family, he visualized a hand boiling in a hot pot; this drove him to write the film. After writing the opening sequence, Chung began to think about suicide (a common occurrence in Taiwan) and the familial and social effects of suicide and juvenile delinquency. The family members were given a traditional upbringing. Although no other films were creative inspirations, he later discovered that the plot is reminiscent of Fargo (1966); the latter begins with a light scene, followed by a lingering chaos. The film's sentimentality is equated with substance intoxication; with time, sentiment will turn from ecstasy to illusion. With making A Sun, Chung also aimed to explore the unknown within the story's themes.

Chung wanted another person to write the screenplay, but struggled to find the right person. He called Chang Yao-sheng perfect: collaborative and analytical, with a novelist's style. According to Chung, this helped him and others understand the feelings he wanted to evoke. He admired Chang's style, saying that he is more creative when writing stories. He had finished a rough screenplay, with core elements of the film, in 40 days. The collaborative nature of producing A Sun was new to Chung, who had worked harder on his previous films; he described those films as worse, and called A Sun more stylistically diverse. As co-writer of the screenplay, Chung struggled to develop the characters; he wanted everyone in the story to be involved in driving it, saying that that would give the characters "life." Chang researched juvenile delinquency, and interviewed a former juvenile delinquent to ensure a realistic depiction. One year was spent on writing the film.

When casting the film, Chung wanted a four-person family and for its adult characters to be around his age. Chen Yi-wen was the first to be cast as Wen. He and Chung had collaborated in Godspeed (2016), and Chung believed that Chen could do justice to Wen (whom he described as unsuccessful and "a useless father"). He called Chen "fun" and stylistically unique. Chung equated the father's mind–body dualism with sunshine and shadow: two sides of the same coin. Greg Hsu met Chung twice before being cast as Hao, and noted his awkward communication. Wu Jian-he, preparing for his role as Ho at least six or seven months before, talked with teenagers who had been imprisoned; this gave him insight into the merciless atmosphere of a prison. Chung did not try to develop a deep relationship with the cast, and conducted no group preparations; he simply asked them to bring the screenplay home, learn their characters, and come on set to portray them. He largely attributed this to his lack of knowledge about acting.

Investors included Chung's 3 NG Film (also its production company), MandarinVision, Eight Eight Nine Films, MirrorFiction and UNI Connect Broadcast Production. The Ministry of Culture supported the production, and Chung’s frequent collaborator Yeh Ju-feng and his wife Tseng Shao-Chien were producers. Yeh found the last two lines of the screenplay memorable; they translate as "Ah-Ho rides his mother on a bicycle, and the sun dazzlingly shines on the fallen leaves, bit by bit".

Filming

Principal photography of A Sun began in September 2018 and took 38 days, a tight schedule given the film's 155-minute runtime. Chung attributed the schedule to the lack of popularity of his films in the Taiwanese market. Its financing was not completed during filming, a recurring problem with Chung's films. Eventually, the team settled a budget of NT$ 44 million (US$1,500,000 as of 2018). Despite his desire to use film stock, Chung decided to use digital cinematography instead; he said that the warmth of a film (characteristic of film stock) is not solely dependent on the medium, but on the production collaboration.

The latter part of the opening sequence was shot on the first day; it was the most lighthearted day for Chung, who remembered laughing at the model hand in the soup. Area gangsters appeared as extras. The opening shots of Ho and Radish riding a motorcycle were filmed in July 2018, during Typhoon Maria. Filming required a quick call for the production team to rush to Civic Boulevard. Since Chung was satisfied by the windy rain, he told actors Wu and Liu Kuan-ting to stop riding as soon as the camera stopped filming. During a scene in which Ho is beaten by fellow inmates, the production team did not want Wu to be injured; cast members were told to ease up but keep the fight looking realistic.

Most of the film, including the scene where Wen confesses his murder of Radish to Qin, was filmed in daylight; blue represents sorrow, and the yellow sunlight represents warmth. Chung had originally wanted Qin to be more restrained in her reaction, but realized that the melodrama was unavoidable.

Because of the film's solar motif, the weather largely determined its shooting schedule; this often meant changing a scheduled time to be able to film scenes in daylight. The Qixing Mountain scene was achieved by waiting during the filming days for a day when several weather forecasts predicted sunlight. Blue and yellow were chosen as the main color tones: blue represents sorrow and apathy, and yellow represents warmth. The final shot of the film (with the sun shining through leaves) was tricky to film, although it is a common phenomenon when driving. The mountain scene was backlit with sunlight, often blocked to evoke the scene's dualism. Chung had considered depicting Hao's death, but decided to allude to it by having him exit as the camera looks at the opposing wall and his shadow grows.

During filming, Chung remembered not feeling confident that the film would work. A Sun is a melodrama; more familiar with art films, he struggled to balance the genres. Chung originally wanted the mountain scene to be more cooler and more restrained, but later understood that melodramatic elements are often inevitable. He would often scold the cast and crew, annoying them; during editing, he saw that their scenes were effective and well-executed. Dark humor has its moments in the film, such as raw sewage being sprayed on Wen's workplace from what seems like a proton pack from a Ghostbusters film. This kind of humor was part of Chung's previous films as well.

Like his other films, A Sun was filmed by Chung under the pseudonym of Nagao Nakashima. According to Chung, his role as director-cinematographer was easier in this film. He came to think of the camera as "a very powerful tool", through which he could analyze the cast's every move as director. The cast would often be interrupted when Chung felt their performances were substandard, occasionally disturbing the sound mixers. He considers cinematography a tool to depict the scope of a scene: "As long as the lighting and colors are right, the atmosphere will pop out as the actors step in." Despite pushing the cast, he also allowed for fluidity. Chung has cited Raising Arizona (1987), Stranger Than Paradise (1984), Down by Law (1986), and Lost Highway (1997) as influences, and the cinematography of Last Tango in Paris (1972) was also an inspiration. Chung would keep the camera recording until his vision was achieved, a technique he used since he filmed car commercials early in his career.

Post-production

A Sun was edited by Lai Hsiu-hsiung, who had collaborated with Chung on Godspeed, The Great Buddha+, and Xiao Mei (2018). With a running time of 155 minutes, it is Chung's longest film by far; the production team, however, agreed that it is the right length. Sound mixer Tu Duu-chih, known for his work on Millennium Mambo (2001), initially proposed trimming it; others said, though, that every scene in the final cut was important.

In the film, Hao tells a dark version of the story of Sima Guang. In Hao's version, Sima Guang and several children are playing hide-and-seek. When everyone is caught, he insists that one person is still missing. They reach a water tank and break it open, revealing another Sima Guang hiding in the darkness. Reviewing the scene, Chung felt that it needed animation to be more effective. Three-dimensional computer animation was unavailable in Taiwan and he did not want to spoil the scene's emotion, so he commissioned a Taiwanese hand-drawn animator with a specific style. After showing him a rough cut, the animator collaborated with Chung to give the one-minute scene "the feeling of an ambiguous personal pursuit."

Music

The 17-track film score was composed by Lin Sheng-xiang, who also composed the score for Chung's The Great Buddha+ (2017). In early 2018, Chung described the opening sequence to him. During filming, he told Lin to write the music for the funeral scene and perform it live while filming. He assembled bassist Toru Hayakawa and harmonicist Toru Fujii to perform four versions of the music at a rented studio in Taipei, followed by a live version at the funeral home the next morning. The scene was heavily edited, however; a montage was used, accompanied by the music.

To compose A Sun's score, Lin studied classical music and slide guitar; the latter was achieved by cutting stainless steel pipes. His philosophy was, "Let the music follow the characters and the story, and as soon as you hear the music, it can evoke feelings towards the film." Sadness receives a touch of grace, and Lin tried to avoid boredom or sensationalism. He considered the score an "invisible cast", with a major role in amplifying the characters' emotions, and the film's dualism was an influence. A variety of musical and cultural backgrounds diversify the score. Lin also collaborated with musicians from Taiwan and two audio engineers, from Taiwan (Zen Chien) and Germany (Wolfgang Obrecht), whom he considered outstanding.

Each family member has their own theme music, played in a variety of styles to depict the film's plot development. Hao's theme is heard four times; one version, "動物園" ("The Zoo"), uses a French horn to evoke warmth. Ho's theme was derived from "縣道184" ("Country Road 184"), a song on the album 菊花夜行軍 (The Night March of the Chrysanthemums), with rearranged chords and rhythm. Wen's theme, "把握時間 掌握方向" ("Seize the Day, Decide Your Path"), is heard three times. Lin was inspired to write the song after seeing, on set, the scene in which Wen awakens after a nightmare about Hao. An organ and guitar were used. Other instruments include a yueqin, double bass, violin, viola, and synthesizers.

"花心" ("Flowery Heart"), a song by Wakin Chau, is sung by Ho's fellow inmates before his release from prison. The end credits song, "遠行" ("Distant Journey") is a sung version of Hao's theme. Its lyrics tell the story of a person who "wanted to be the most distant star"; after venting to an acquaintance, he points to the night sky, and surrenders his life to it. The soundtrack album was released on 25 October 2019 on compact disc, and digitally four days later. It was produced and published by Foothills Folk, and distributed by Feeling Good Music.

Track listing for A Sun (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

No.	Title	Length
1.	"他坐在哪裡" ("Where's He Sitting?")	2:21
2.	"阿和進去了" ("A-Ho in Jail")	2:33
3.	"這樣對大家都好 鋼琴版" ("It's Good for Everybody (Piano Version)")	2:33
4.	"關我什麼事?" ("What's That to Do with Me?")	2:57
5.	"三鞠躬" ("Three Bows")	3:03
6.	"動物園" ("The Zoo")	3:27
7.	"太陽" ("The Sun")	2:09
8.	"這樣對大家都好 吉他絃樂版" ("It's Good for Everybody (Guitar & String Version)")	1:39
9.	"把握時間 掌握方向 1" ("Seize the Day, Decide Your Path 1")	2:21
10.	"把握時間 掌握方向 2" ("Seize the Day, Decide Your Path 2")	3:09
11.	"你車上有煙灰缸嗎?" ("Does Your Car Have an Ashtray?")	3:23
12.	"把握時間 掌握方向 3" ("Seize the Day, Decide Your Path 3")	2:35
13.	"算我欠你的" ("Let's Say I Owe You")	4:54
14.	"滿口袋的錢" ("A Pocket Full of Money")	2:13
15.	"我只是一個駕訓班教練" ("I'm Only a Driving Instructor")	3:13
16.	"陳教練你有幾個小孩?" ("Instructor Chen, How Many Children Do You Have?")	2:00
17.	"遠行" ("Distant Journey")	5:18
Total length:		49:48

Title

For Netflix, A Sun is typed in serif; there is also another version using a reminiscent sans-serif typeface

The original, traditional Chinese title of the film is 陽光普照 (Pinyin: Yángguāng pǔzhào), meaning "Shining on all things". This is taken from the last fragment of the last sentence in Hao's suicide text, which reads: "I [...] wished [...] that I could hide in the shade. [...] But I could not. I had no water tanks, no shades, just sunlight. 24 hours uninterrupted, radiant and warm, shining on all things." Furthermore, Chung had always wanted a film of his to be composed of four characters with positive connotations, albeit ironic when put into context.

Sometime in 2019, academic and filmmaker Jerry Carlson interviewed Chung, who mentioned the film. Prior, Chung had already thought of its English title as A Sun, though was unsure as the Solar System only has one sun. After hearing about the film's story, Carlson approved of the title despite the obvious grammatical error. Chung came to realize that the universe consists of more than one sun. He is also aware of the homonym between "A Sun" and "A son"; in the film, Wen lies to others that he only has one son (Hao), as he disowned Ho. Wen also lives in the self-delusion that he is fulfilling his motto of "Seize the day, decide your path"; the effects of such lies are also what Chung wanted to cover in A Sun.

Thematic analysis

Chung stated that his intention with A Sun was to explore said familial and social effects caused by juvenile imprisonment and suicide. The film, he said, is not of joy, but rather of reflection upon family, society, and the hardships within life.

The motifs of light and dark are frequently discussed by publications. Chung says that the Sun symbolizes hope. It is seen that the love within the film's family are like sunshine, but then there are shadows—that is, personal secrecy and a lack of space to open up; as Chung said, "We have all been hurt, so much so that we can be each others' Sun." Family is not depicted as a utopia, but rather a place where everyone shares the same values and intentions, equated to a shade amid a sunlit expanse. Wen's mind–body dualism is later symbolized as Wen and Qin hike Qixing Mountain, traversing light and dark. The film's wholesome scenes are said to mostly appear as sunlight appears, but becomes generally absent as shadow and bad weather approaches. Because Hao personifies the everyday pressure on him with the Sun, during Wen's confession scene, Wen is placed behind the Sun to symbolize the pressure of truth on him, while Qin is placed facing the Sun as she slowly learns the truth. It is interpreted that the confession occurs amid nature to symbolize the natural pressure Wen placed on himself, while Hao's suicide text scene is intercut with shots of him amid urbanity to symbolize the social pressure on him.

Chung also challenges the idea that parents have unconditional love for their children, arguing that children instead need understanding aided with love. The family is described as the epitome of many strict, traditional parents. Wen is a central figure, with him treating the characters a certain way and the characters reflecting their emotions upon him. Wen continues ignoring Ho upon Ho's release, which Chung considered ironic considering they are bonded by consanguinity. In light of such disconnections, understanding is another theme touched upon on the film. The film's premise of a son who is under constant comparison with a golden child has been compared with Waves (2019) and Ordinary People (1980). A Sun is also seen as an semi-criticism of a society largely controlled by patriarchal rights: fathers like Wen can easily neglect their children without healthy communication with each other, though Wen's murder of Radish is a culmination of his patriarchal ego that is deemed heroic. Using cultural discourse analysis, this as well as Hao's suicide is seen as a conflict between personal agency and futility. Wen is also described as ignorant and mean on the surface, but has good intentions and is confused on how to effectuate them.

The film also defies the employment of absolutist characterizations. Chung himself stressed that there is no binary characterization in them: personalities shift periodically. Sylvia Cheng of Elle said that no characters in the film can be directly attributed to the conflicts, opining that "every family is riddled with holes" and that "life is a process of constant mistakes". In the final scene, Qin gazes at the sunny sceneries with a slightly joyful face, though is still tormented by the effects of what happened to her two sons. When analyzing using structuralism, Hao can be seen as a manifestation of good, and Radish a manifestation of evil. However structuralism is criticized as unrealistic, so by using a post-structuralist analysis, these two characters are seen as merely a form of moral message to Ho. Hao and Radish die because of their unrealistic nature; this would help shape Ho's identity as the realistic mix of both good and evil. There is a certain amount of good in Radish, and his background justifies his actions, though audiences might consider him evil due to what is mainly seen from him.

An example of a Taiwanese slogan. Taiwan is known for its heavy use of slogans, sometimes used as a moral principle; this is depicted in the film via the character of Wen.

Wen's attachment with the slogan "Seize your day, decide your path" is a real Taiwanese phenomenon that originated in the 1960s. In the film, like some Taiwanese people, Wen considers it his moral principle that he continuously repeats, despite his self not reflecting the people the slogan represents. His decision to murder Radish is a culmination of his abdication towards the slogan, one that might be considered immoral, but Wen will never consider such. Thus, Patrick Brzeksi of The Hollywood Reporter considers the moral of the film as: "life also is too complicated to live under the harsh light of moral purity." Moral ambiguity is promoted in the last scene of the film, where Ho steals a bike and Qin, despite some hesitation reminiscent of moral panic, decides to just go along. According to Chung, certain morals can be violated as long as no one is affected in the process.

Socioeconomic inequality in Taiwan is also covered in A Sun. Wen's motto of "Seize the day, decide your path" does not reflect his life, and after being released from prison, Ho works in a car wash, while Radish resorts to gang crimes amid the backdrop of poverty. However, Hioe says that the film's coverage on this subject is light, in lieu of The Great Buddha+ as well as The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful (2017). The film is also seen as a criticisms of Taiwanese judicial system: the prison that Ho is sent to does not offer any kind of correctional education, as the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Education have never taken it into account. There s an irony that Radish was the one injuring Oden, but Wen is the one told to pay for the hospital bill. Wen's boss was also praised for recognizing his legal responsibility to oversee his workers' well-being The film also stressed to cruciality of social support systems and the awareness of responsibilities.

In regards to the film's style, Chung called A Sun a humanistic film. Brian Hioe of No Man is an Island noted that the film's genre of crime drama is common within Taiwanese cinema following the 2014 Taipei Metro attack, whose chronology has similarities to the opening sequence of A Sun. Filmmaker Ang Lee also found a Buddhist-style of spirituality in A Sun, which prompts an interpretation that in the plot, the destinies of each characters have been set from the start, as if their fates are determined by each of their inciting actions, a theme commonly found in Asian cinema. The film's existential themes are also noted, exemplified the shots of the lonely characters, backdropped by wide sceneries. When Radish is released, he dyes his hair orange, which is said to symbolize evilness and resentment.

Release

A Sun held its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 6 September 2019, before its Asian premiere at the 2019 Hong Kong Asian Film Festival on 3 October. It was then screened at the 24th Busan International Film Festival on 7 October. Succeeding festivals include the Tokyo International Film Festival and the 56th Taiwanese Golden Horse Film Festival on 13 October. The 2019 Singapore International Film Festival screened it on 25 and 27 November. Its American premiere was held at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on 6 January 2020. Meanwhile, the film had its Taiwanese theatrical exhibition beginning 1 November 2019, and ending 1 December. As distributor, Applause Entertainment released three trailers: one is a teaser featuring dialogue-less montage, while another is a trimmed version of the first.

On Netflix

Since the 1980s, Taiwanese films haven’t received a lot of international attention. Many recent directors perhaps were not as creative or artistic as Edward Yang or Hou Hsiao-hsien. A lot of the films emerging from Taiwan today aren’t much like the New Taiwanese Cinema. [...] A Sun was distributed to the whole world because of Netflix. It happens naturally in this changing world. I didn’t necessarily expect that the film would receive more attention on Netflix; I only thought it would be available to more people globally.

—Chung on the film's poor marketing from Netflix

In late 2019, Netflix acquired the rights to A Sun, and released it as a Netflix original film on 24 January 2020. However, poor marketing caused the film to not gain the expected amount of critical and general coverage; David Ehrlich of IndieWire wrote that the film is "buried" within Netflix's catalog. Another IndieWire writer, Tom Brueggemann, credited this to the overload of new titles in the platform, causing a failure to process each of them. Upon the film being Taiwan's Academy Award for Best International Feature Film entry at the 93rd Academy Awards, Netflix released two trailers on YouTube, however this is only used for press embeds and is unlisted, meaning only people with access to the link can view it.

However, the film later garnered some attention with the help of American critic Peter Debruge, who published a Variety listicle deeming it the best film of 2020. A niche following was soon observed. Chung commented that with the acquisition, he did not expect the film to boom in popularity, merely for it to be accessible globally. He deemed this crucial, due to the fading access towards Taiwanese cinema since the 1980s. However, he further expressed positivity regarding Deburge's listicle, and called it "an encouragement for Taiwanese filmmakers, and even for Taiwan herself", noting however since the contemporary popularity of Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang films, Taiwanese cinema became rarely discussed due to the ever-changing nature of the industry, particularly the Taiwanese condition. A sentiment was still expressed, however, that major publications like The New York Times and The Guardian do not review the film.

Reception

Box office

According to data from the Taiwan Film Institute between 4 and 10 November, approximately during its opening week, A Sun played in 44 theaters in Taiwan, grossing $4,550,861 with 19,172 tickets sold. It was a 38.11% increase the earnings of 1 to 3 November. Over the next six days, two theaters stopped exhibition; the film further grossed $3,258,810 with 13,686 tickets sold, a 28.61% decrease. The following week, it earned $14,157,606, with 59,687 tickets sold, indicating a 5.40% drop. In its final week, eight theaters began exhibiting the film, causing a 122.79% increase in earnings: $6,806,407 with 28,844 tickets sold. Overall, A Sun grossed $20,964,013 with 88,531 tickets sold, making it a box-office bomb.

Chung's previous films had also been bombs, opining that the average Taiwanese filmgoers are not fond of his films, though his wife encouraged him to make films for the sake of it and not just to satisfy the box office. He further reinforced the thought that his films are meant for a specific niche group, and that these groups appreciating the film is more than enough. He expressed the ambition to keep on making films that will attract further audiences until he no longer wants to pursue filmmaking. Wang Zu-peng of The News Lens opined that audiences should have given Chung "less alienation and more affection", allowing the poetry film to patiently engross them into the story.

Critical response

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes deemed A Sun generally well-received, with a 94% approval rating based on 18 critics, many of whom called it among, or even the, best film of 2019/2020. Tony Rayns, writing for Sight & Sound, called it "the most impressive film of recent times", and Debruge called it "a world-cinema stunner" built on mastery.

Many critics came to enjoy the film's treatment of its themes. The good and the evil are given balanced coverage, and the variety of subgenres, including crime, drama, and comedy are found to coalesce smoothly, allowing for good pacing and compelling narrative, making the film "a riveting moral odyssey", as written by David Ehrlich of IndieWire. The story was also praised for its organic flow and richness in nuance, with A-Hao's suicide sequence compared to the films of Lee Chang-dong. Many have also highlighted the violent opening sequence, compared to the works of Quentin Tarantino, providing a preface to the film's spectrum of emotions. Its nature motifs and slight emotional ambiguity were also praised. Chung's style has been compared to those of Edward Yang, Ang Lee, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Barry Jenkins, and Lulu Wang; the film was also compared with Yang's A Brighter Summer Day (1991) and Yi Yi (2000), and many opined that A Sun makes Chung a possible successor for the New Taiwanese Cinema. The camera framing, which attempts to give the characters a sense of disconnection from the surrounding environment, is compared to the films of Michael Haneke.

The cast performances are widely praised for their embodiment of the characters they portray, further uplifting the film's emotional weight. Pramit Chatterjee of Mashable praised Wu's performance as "heavy" and Hsu's as impacting. Chen's performance is also said to add more depth into his short-tempered character, depicting his ambivalent personality accurately. Liu's performance gives Radish's character a distinct menacing impression. Ko is said to add to the kindness strength of Qin's character, with Kevin L. Lee of Film Inquirer equating her to Regina King's performance as a mother in If Beale Street Could Talk (2018). The female cast are also praised for their uniqueness. Additionally, the remaining supporting cast were praised as equally as the ensemble, with Liu said to successfully portray the manipulative Radish.

Accolades

List of accolades received by A Sun

Year	Award ceremony	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
2019	56th Golden Horse Awards	Best Feature Film	A Sun	Won
		Best Director	Chung Mong-hong	Won
		Best Leading Actor	Wu Chien-ho	Nominated
			Chen Yi-wen	Won
		Best Leading Actress	Samantha Ko	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Liu Kuan-ting	Won
		Best Supporting Actress	Wen Chen-ling	Nominated
		Best Original Screenplay	Chung Mong-hong Chang Yao-sheng	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Nagao Nakashima	Nominated
		Best Original Film Song	"Distant Journey"	Nominated
		Best Film Editing	Lai Hsiu-hsiung	Won
		Audience Choice Award	A Sun	Won
2020	14th Asian Film Awards	Best Film		Nominated
		Best Director	Chung Mong-hong	Nominated
		Best Actor	Chen Yi-wen	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Liu Kuan-ting	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actress	Samantha Ko	Won
		Best Screenplay	Chung Mong-hong Chang Yao-sheng	Nominated
		Best Editing	Lai Hsiu-hsiung	Nominated
2021	Houston Film Critics Society Awards 2020	Best Foreign Language Film	A Sun	Won
	25th Satellite Awards	Best Foreign Language Film		Nominated
	93rd Academy Awards	Best International Feature Film		Shortlisted

External links

• A Sun at IMDb 
• A Sun on Netflix
• A Sun at AllMovie
• A Sun (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) playlist on YouTube