As a critic for Cahiers du cinéma, Assayas was among the first to recognize the profound talent of Hou Hsiao-hsien, the Taiwanese director often considered to be one of the greatest filmmakers working today. Assayas' documentary follows Hou as he wanders through Taipei visiting childhood friends and discussing his life and work. In keeping with the eclectic trajectory of his career, Assayas offered this intimate portrait of a still relatively unknown Hou as an immediate follow-up to his breakout hit Irma Vep (1996).