Li Tian-lu is a principal character in the trilogy of historical films of Taiwanese film

Cinema of Taiwan

The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of Mainland China and Cinema of Taiwan . Taiwanese cinema grew up outside of the Hong Kong mainstream and the censorship of the People's Republic of China.Taiwanese cinema is deeply rooted...

 directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...

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The Trilogy

The Puppetmaster tells the true story of Li's life as a master puppeteer

Puppeteer

A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, such as a puppet, in real time to create the illusion of life. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or...

 faced with demands to turn his skills to propaganda

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

 during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan

Taiwan under Japanese rule

Between 1895 and 1945, Taiwan was a dependency of the Empire of Japan. The expansion into Taiwan was a part of Imperial Japan's general policy of southward expansion during the late 19th century....

 in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

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Li plays the paterfamilias of the extended Chinese family facing the events surrounding the A City of Sadness

A City of Sadness

A City of Sadness is a 1989 Taiwanese historical drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It tells the story of a family embroiled in the tragic "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s, during...

 (1989).

Other Roles

Li plays the grandfather in Hou's 1986 film Dust in the Wind

Dust in the Wind (film)

Dust in the Wind ) is a 1986 critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful movie by Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien.This film is based on co-screenwriter Wu Nien-jen's own experiences, and the final part of Hou's coming-of-age trilogy, the others being A Summer at Grandpa's and The Time...

 and 1987 film Daughter of the Nile

Daughter of the Nile

Daughter of the Nile is a 1987 Feature film by Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien.-Background:...

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