GOODBYE, DRAGON INN | BU SAN

TAIWAN, 2003, COLOR, DCP, 82’, MANDARIN, TAIWANESE, JAPANESE

An old cinema in Taipei hosts its last screening and a handful of viewers and workers are there to say goodbye. The film that Apichatpong Weerasethakul singled out as his favorite of all time is a peculiar minimalist epic of frames of absence and ghostly presence. In a mere 82 minutes the bittersweet taste triggers every film-loving cell, the sudden, absolutely phlegmatic humor knocks you off your chair, while you discreetly wipe your tears when you realize the secrets that the film so gently offers. An autumnal suite, absolutely warm in its slow cinema eccentricity, which will light up old worlds in the minds of (only slightly) older theater-going veterans. I.D.

DIRECTOR:Tsai Ming-liang
SCREENWRITERS: Tsai Ming-liang, Sung His
DoP: Pen-Jung Liao
EDITOR: Chen Sheng-chang
PRINCIPAL CAST: Lee Kang-sheng, Chen Shiang-chyi, Kiyonobu Mitamura

TSAI MING-LIANG
Malaysian filmmaker born in 1957. A leading figure of the 2nd New Wave of Taiwan’s cinema, where Ming-liang is based. He studied film at the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan. He has directed many short and feature films as well as documentaries, and works for the theater and television. Α hieratic figure in festivals, he has been honored at all three major of them (Cannes, Venice, Berlin).

FILMOGRAPHY
2020 Days
2013 Stray Dogs
2009 Face
2006 I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone
2005 The Wayward Cloud
2003 Goodbye, Dragon Inn
2001 What Time Is It There?
1998 The Hole
1997 The River
1994 Vive L’Amour
1992 Rebels of the Neon God