The Story of a Small Town

Theatrical release poster

The Story of a Small Town (Chinese: 小城故事; pinyin: xiǎochéng gùshì) is a 1979 Taiwanese film, produced by Hsiao Chung Productions (小眾電影公司). The film revolves around a family living in a small town. Kenny Bee plays the male family member who is released from prison and falls in love with a mute woman (Joan Lin).

The film was remade as a TV series, featuring Yang Kuei-mei (楊貴媚) and Yin Xiaotian (印小天).^[1]

Cast and crew

Cast

• Kenny Bee
• Joan Lin, credited as Joan Lin
• Ge Hsiang-ting (葛香亭)
• Lee Lieh (李烈)
• Chen Jun-jieh (陳俊傑), credited as Ou Di (歐弟)

Crew

• Li Hsing (李行), director and supervisor
• Liu Teng-shan (劉登善), story
• Chang Yung-hsiang, screenplay
• Chen Kun-hou (陳坤厚), cinematography
• Tsai Cheng-pin (蔡正彬), art director
• Chih Hsueh-fu (支學福), director of lighting
• Weng Ching-hsi (翁清溪), composer, credited as Tony Wong in this film and Tang Ni (湯尼) in other materials

Reception

In the 16th Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards (1979), this film won the Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress (Joan Lin), and Best Child Star (Weng Ching-hsi).^[2]

Music

Xiaocheng gushi (Chinese: 小城故事; pinyin: xiǎochéng gùshì), translated as either Small Town Story or Story of a Small Town, is a 1979 album by Teresa Teng. Tracks 1, 6, 7, and 8 are theme songs from the film. With the exception of track 7, the names of these tracks are different for each release.

The album was released by Kolin Records (歌林股份有限公司) in Taiwan and by Polydor Records in Hong Kong and overseas. Polydor re-recorded the theme songs for its own edition and released this album as Taiwan's Love Songs 6: Small Town Story (島國之情歌第六集:小城故事; dǎoguó zhī qínggē dì liù jí).

Weng Ching-hsi (翁清溪) is credited as Tang Ni (湯尼) on this album.

Side A

1. Kolin: "Moment of Silence" (默默的一刻 momo de yi ke) — 2:13
   Polydor: "You Are in My Heart" (你在我心裏 ni zai wo xinli) — 2:54

   Music by Weng Ching-hsi, lyrics by Chuang Nu (莊奴)

   Sub-theme of the film; Polydor re-recording has additional, slightly different lyrics

2. "xinshi" (心事), "On Your Mind" or "On My Mind", music by Weng Ching-hsi, lyrics by Suen Yi (孫儀) — 3:28
3. "Poetry" (詩意 shiyi), written by Liu Chia-chang — 3:00
4. "A piece of a fallen leaf" (一片落葉 yipian luoye), music by Takashi Miki (三木たかし), lyrics by Chuang Nu — 3:27
5. "The September Story" (九月的故事 jiuyue de gushi), music by Inaba Akira (因幡晃), lyrics by Suen Hei (晨曦) — 3:42
6. Kolin: "Precious Small Town" (小城多可爱 xiaocheng duo keai) — 2:11
   Polydor: "Spring in a Small Town" (春風滿小城 chunfeng man xiaocheng) — 2:22

   Music by Weng Ching-hsi, lyrics by Chuang Nu

   Sub-theme of The Story of a Small Town

Side B

"Small Town Story" (小城故事 / Xiaocheng gushi) — 2:19 (Kolin) / 2:35 (Polydor)

Music by Weng Ching-hsi, lyrics by Chuang Nu

Main theme of The Story of a Small Town

1. Kolin: "Quiet Lane" (静静的小路 jingjing de xiaolu) — 3:15
   Polydor: "Lane" (小路 / Xiaolu) — 3:04

   Music by Weng Ching-hsi, lyrics by Chuang Nu

   Sub-theme of The Story of a Small Town

2. "Me and You" (我和你 wo he ni), music by Minoru Endo (遠藤実), lyrics by Lin Huang-kuen (林煌坤) — 3:46

   Mandarin version of "kitaguni no haru" (北国の春), first sung in 1977 by Masao Sen (千昌夫)

3. "Free and at Leisure" (逍遙自在 xiaoyaozizai), music by Minoru Endo, lyrics by Lin Huang-kuen — 3:28

   Mandarin version of "Gardenia Flowers" (くちなしの花, kuchinashi no hana), first sung in 1973 by Tetsuya Watari

4. "Place of First Loves" (初戀的地方 chulian de difang), music by Liu Chia-chang; lyrics by Suen Hei — 2:27

   Originally sung by Chiang Lei (江蕾)^[3]

5. "Thinking of You" (想起你 xiangqi ni), music by Kimiaki Inomata (猪俣公章), lyrics by Lin Huang-kuen — 3:28

References

External links

• The Story of a Small Town at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase
• The Story of a Small Town at the Internet Movie Database