Although expected, the news of Edward Yang’s death still struck a deep cord with many; the loss was immediately palpable. The talented and controversial Taiwanese filmmaker passed away a few weeks ago of colon cancer, at the age of 59. As one of Yang’s filmmaking partners said, with Yang the glorious era of Taiwan’s film industry has also passed.

A former computer engineer in Silicon Valley, Yang is known for a sharp and cold rationalism that pervaded his films. Yang’s position in Taiwan was likened to Jean-luc Godard's image in France in the 1960s. While Godard and Francois Truffaut were founders of the French New Wave movement, Yang and fellow filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien were the forerunners in the Taiwanese Cinema New Wave movement of the 1980s. Their films broke the rose-colored glasses model that prevailed and instead presented a realistic and critical look at the lightening speed changes taking place in Taiwanese society.

Among the hot-blooded young artists, Yang was the richest, and offered up a Japanese-style mansion as headquarters. “We were like teenage boys, drinking, arguing and rolling on the Japanese tatami in the big house everyday, sharing our ambitions and aspirations,” recounted Hou after Yang’s death. “Yang wrote down on a blackboard plans like setting up a factory of dreams and all kinds of story ideas.”

While his films broke cinematic boundaries in Taiwan and earned him respect, his dealings with women were less than enviable. During his first marriage, he pursued singer Cai Qin (who’s soulful voice has been compared to Marianne Faithful) on the side. The two finally married in 1985, but later it was discovered that their 10 year marriage was anything but golden. Tabloids said Yang suggested they have a “Plato’s marriage” because he did not want "any impurities in this marriage.” The 20-year-old Cai agreed to the no-sex deal and devoted herself to promoting Yang's films. But it was Yang who later added impurity to the marriage—he had an affair with concert pianist Peng Kaili, who later became his third wife.

Some of Yang’s friends said he was too involved in his art, which made him eccentric in his relationships, leaving many women heartbroken. Yang’s stubbornness also made him pull the award-winning film “Yi Yi” (voted as the Best Film of 2000 by the New York Film Critic Association) from Taiwan, to protest what he viewed as ills in the local industry.

Undeniable, however, is Yang’s talent. After “Yi Yi,” no members of the Taiwan New Wave won any accolades. The only remaining active New Wave member is the now 60-year-old Hou Hsiao-hsien, but Taiwan’s film industry is no longer in its golden age. "I feel especially sad,” says Hou. “Our time may have really ended.”