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In its description of Tsai Ming-liang’s 2020 film Days, the Harvard Film Archive observed, “Tsai’s delicate touch leaves the film in a state of poignant anticlimax, raising unsentimental questions about what constitutes fulfilling human connection.” That phrase could in fact be used as a starting point to discuss any of the Malaysian-born, Taiwan-based director’s films. Emerging on the scene with Rebels of the Neon God (1992) a decade after Taiwanese New Wave progenitors Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang released their extraordinary first films, Tsai’s elegant chronicles of urban alienation are distinguished by their combination of gritty realism, languorous pace, unexpected moments of humor, copious precipitation, and actor Lee Kang-sheng. Tsai’s protagonists lead mostly solitary existences—even when living in close proximity to others—communication is limited, encounters fleeting, and intimacy a distant dream. Yet there is a profound humanity in the sustained attention of Tsai’s camera on the mundane activities of daily life.
This series offers the opportunity to revisit films from every stage of Tsai’s career, including his Golden Lion Award–winning sophomore feature, Vive l’amour; his apocalyptic epidemic film, The Hole; and Sand, the eighth of the Walker series films, each featuring Lee swathed in red robes walking barefoot. Tsai and Lee will be present to discuss most of the films in the series, which will be preceded by special screenings of François Truffaut's The 400 Blows, referenced in What Time Is It There?, and King Hu’s 1967 classic Dragon Inn, a favorite of Tsai’s that is prominently featured in his elegiac ode to cinema, Goodbye, Dragon Inn.
—Kate MacKay, Associate Film Curator
