影片以二·二八事件為背景，講述了林氏家族兄弟四人的遭遇和生活。 普通人的命運在轟轟烈烈的時代面前總是渺小到可以忽略不計。個人，如果勇敢地站出來想阻止時代洪流，多少像奮力撲向風車的唐吉坷德，往往只能當殉道者，而更多時候，個人甚至連選擇當旁觀者的權利也沒有。可是普通人的悲劇，無疑能照出歷史的荒謬與殘忍。 1945年日本無條件投降後台灣光復，基隆一戶林姓人家眼見也要過上好日子，但人算不如天算，林家大小波折從此不斷。“二•二八”事件發生後，家中的四兄弟更是只剩下老老實實開有一家照相館的聾啞人老四林文清（梁朝偉）。然而悲劇並沒到此終止，因為和進步人士有聯絡，林文清也沒能逃脫被逮捕的命運，到此，林家男子只剩林文清和吳寬美（辛樹芬）的幼兒——他尚呆在襁褓中咿呀咿呀地學語。

At the end of the 19th century, Shanghai is divided into several foreign concessions. In the British concession, a number of luxurious “flower houses” are reserved for the male elite of the city. Since Chinese dignitaries are not allowed to frequent brothels, these establishments are the only ones that these men can visit. They form a self-contained world, with its own rites, traditions and even its own language. The men don’t only visit the houses to frequent the courtesans but also to dine, smoke opium, play mahjong and relax. The women working there are known as the “flowers of Shanghai”.

In three separate segments, set respectively in 1966, 1911, and 2005, three love stories unfold between three sets of characters, under three different periods of Taiwanese history and governance.

In this portrait of small-time hoods rendered in rhythm-of-life anecdotal detail, Gao is the leader of a circle of layabouts including his sidekick, Flathead, and their girlfriends, Pretzel and Ling. He is also the originator of petty crime schemes, which promise to get the gang nowhere fast.

故事從三個時空展開。一段戲中戲，講述四十年代的台灣熱血青年蔣碧玉與鍾浩東，歷經艱險投奔抗日隊伍，將他們純真的愛獻給祖國；九十年代的現實中，女演員梁靜遺失了日記本，裡面記載她在名利場上剪不斷理還亂的人際關係；回到現代，染有毒癮的梁靜有過一段轟轟烈烈的愛情，但這段記憶卻苦苦糾纏著她⋯⋯侯孝賢「台灣三部曲」終章，伊能靜、高捷、林強領銜主演。

In June, 1993 , the gravestone of Hsu Ching-Lan was finally found in Liuchangli by his brother after 40 years of searching. Hsu was killed by the KMT during the 'White Terror,' the organized suppression of leftist activities in Taiwan in the 1950s.