I Didn't Dare to Tell You
(Bu gan gen ni jiang)

Mou Toun-fei’s desire was to become a filmmaker in Taiwan, where he grew up. But his career there was short-lived and he later continued it in Hong Kong at the Shaw Brothers studios. He nonetheless left two films atypical of the situation in Taiwanese cinema in the late 1960s. Neither of these films was released. Although the reasons for their exclusion remain unclear, we can well imagine that the censorship was not too keen on their realism and independent viewpoint seldom seen in the local film industry. The abrupt ending of I Didn’t Dare to Tell You is likely an imposed correction to comply with the ideology of the period.
A primary school student has a secret night job to pay off his father’s gambling debts, and so is always falling asleep during lessons. When his teacher investigates to find out why he is so tired, she triggers a series of family disputes.
JB