I've had a complicated relationship with Chinese-language films and filmmakers. I've always felt a certain obligation to watch Chinese cinema, but I've had difficulty connecting with many of the major talents. It's taken me a long time to work through my own cultural baggage and actually explore the films of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the mainland. Taiwanese filmmakers in particular hold a lot of interest for me, because in a not-too-alternate universe, Taiwan would be home, and its native cinema would be my own. And Tsai Ming-Liang's films are the ones I think of when I think of life in Taiwan, capturing the feel and the rhythms of the country like no others.
I feel like I'm taking the easy way out, picking Tsai Ming-Liang's simplest, most minimalist film as my favorite. However, he does something in "Goodbye, Dragon Inn" that I connect with very deeply. The film captures the experience of going to a movie theater and watching a movie better than any other screen depiction I've ever seen. This might seem strange, but most films that depict the act of movie-watching tend to mythologize or glamorize the act. In "Goodbye," the theater is a lonely, mostly empty place. This is the final screening, on a gloomy, rainy night, before this particular theater closes permanently. The movie that is playing is King Hu's classic wuxia film, "Dragon Inn," which we see in glimpses as the camera follows various patrons and staff through the theater. There only seem to be two workers, the projectionist and the ticket taker, who walks slowly using a leg brace. They are played by Tsai regulars, Lee Kang-Sheng and Chen Shiang-Chyi respectively. None of the characters have names, but eagle-eyed fans will notice that two of the stars of "Dragon Inn," Shih Chun and Miao Tien, are in attendance. And the atmosphere is utterly absorbing and perfect.
Most of Tsai Ming-Liang films are slow and unhurried, with a very loosely constructed plot if there is one at all. He makes capital-A Art films that watch the characters live out their ordinary lives, often marked by loneliness and disconnection. The same actors appear again and again, and it always seems to be raining. Sometimes the mood is dark and nihilistic, and sometimes wry and funny, and sometimes brash and vulgar. In "Goodbye, Dragon Inn," the mood is nostalgic. Tsai set and filmed the feature in the real Fu-Ho Theater at the edge of Taipei, after learning it was set to close down. It's shot in long, long takes where not much happens, but we get a good sense of the enormity of the space, and can glean a few things about the characters from their sparse interactions. There's one man trying and failing to initiate a homosexual encounter. The projectionist, holed up in his little room, coolly states that the theater is haunted. The audience is very sparse, but largely respectful. I'm always the most fascinated with the ticket taker, steadily thumping her way down the long hallways and navigating the stairwells. She's the very last to leave, after the screening is over and the theater is closed up, and we see her thumping her way into the rainy night.
I've thought about this film an awful lot during the pandemic, as many movie theaters around the world have shared the fate of the Fu-Ho Theater. Movie theaters are magical places, where strangers convene to share a common experience. Filmmakers are some of the biggest film fans, so I find it odd that films about movie theaters are fairly rare. "Dragon Inn" is a favorite for a lot of Chinese filmmakers, and it's been remade multiple times. However, seeing the silhouette of Chen Shiang-Chyi at the corner of the giant screen as "Dragon Inn" is playing, and watching the lights reflected back on the faces of the theater audience is an homage that feels so much more intimate and personal. And it's an homage that feels so right for Tsai Ming-Liang, who ends all his films on a black screen bearing his signature, before the credits roll.
What I've Seen - Tsai Ming-Liang
Rebels of the Neon God (1992)
Vive L'Amour (1994)
The River (1997)
The Hole (1998)
What Time Is It There? (2001)
Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)
The Wayward Cloud (2005)
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
Stray Dogs (2013)
Days (2020)
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