What can be said about Ming-liang Tsai's "Goodbye, Dragon Inn" ?
"Brilliant", "Genuine", "Honest", "Heartbreaking" are some of the adjectives that come to mind.
First of all, let me state that this is not a film for everyone. People with an attention span of 30 seconds should stay away from this film for they will hate it with all their heart. But, if you are open and sensitive to time, distance and atmosphere, this is your film.
Never have corridors, rooms and hallways felt so sad and lonely in Cinema History. Every frame cries with sadness, loneliness and memories.
In "Goodbye, Dragon Inn" Ming-liang asks us to remember. To feel. He wishes to recapture the textures, the air, the shadows, the silence. He invites us to remember these things.
Shiang-chyi Chen fleshes out another brilliant performance (following her performance in Ming-liang's "The Passageway is Gone", another masterpiece, by the way). She gives us one of the most heartbreaking, honest and haunting performances in recent Cinema.
Instead of falling into the predictable "Art House" category, Ming-liang delivers what is a funny, moving and unforgettable film. Every single detail, every single performance, is a tiny jewel worth more than any grand or epic scene Hollywood could possible deliver.
Every single echoing step from Shiang-chyi Chen's character feels like the last heart beats of a lonely and broken heart. "Goodbye, Dragon Inn" floods with heart and warmth. In the end, it is a pessimistic film - but with one small shining light of hope. And it is focusing on that light that the film closes its curtains.
Rejoice, Ming-liang Tsai. Your latest film has just sneaked in into the Top 100 Films Ever. Quite easily, in fact. "GDI" is also, the Best Film of the Decade, as it is.
I hope that somehow, a DVD is released in Western countries.
Or else I will personally travel to Taiwan in order to buy a copy.
To sum it up - one does not come out unchanged from "Goodbye, Dragon Inn".
"Brilliant", "Genuine", "Honest", "Heartbreaking" are some of the adjectives that come to mind.
First of all, let me state that this is not a film for everyone. People with an attention span of 30 seconds should stay away from this film for they will hate it with all their heart. But, if you are open and sensitive to time, distance and atmosphere, this is your film.
Never have corridors, rooms and hallways felt so sad and lonely in Cinema History. Every frame cries with sadness, loneliness and memories.
In "Goodbye, Dragon Inn" Ming-liang asks us to remember. To feel. He wishes to recapture the textures, the air, the shadows, the silence. He invites us to remember these things.
Shiang-chyi Chen fleshes out another brilliant performance (following her performance in Ming-liang's "The Passageway is Gone", another masterpiece, by the way). She gives us one of the most heartbreaking, honest and haunting performances in recent Cinema.
Instead of falling into the predictable "Art House" category, Ming-liang delivers what is a funny, moving and unforgettable film. Every single detail, every single performance, is a tiny jewel worth more than any grand or epic scene Hollywood could possible deliver.
Every single echoing step from Shiang-chyi Chen's character feels like the last heart beats of a lonely and broken heart. "Goodbye, Dragon Inn" floods with heart and warmth. In the end, it is a pessimistic film - but with one small shining light of hope. And it is focusing on that light that the film closes its curtains.
Rejoice, Ming-liang Tsai. Your latest film has just sneaked in into the Top 100 Films Ever. Quite easily, in fact. "GDI" is also, the Best Film of the Decade, as it is.
I hope that somehow, a DVD is released in Western countries.
Or else I will personally travel to Taiwan in order to buy a copy.
To sum it up - one does not come out unchanged from "Goodbye, Dragon Inn".