The Best of Times is a coming-of-age story that combines the depressive sensibility of film noir with conventions of the Taiwanese family melodrama. Wei and Jie are cousins who work as money collectors for the local gang. One day, to award them for a job well done, they are presented with a gun that the quick-tempered Jie uses to shoot down the rival gang’s boss. This tragic event turns the two into fugitives. This conventional storyline is rather peripheral to the despair represented by the images of youths that have no hope for the future. To these young men, a gun becomes a symbol for many possibilities, which easily turn into dust. Director Chang Tso-chi carefully yet energetically tells the story of 19-year-olds who fall from grace. Wei and Jie, who are the total opposite of each other, represent uninspired young men who have just entered the real world. Through their story, the film attempts to present a portrait of contemporary Taiwan. (Lee Sang-yong)