an unnecessarily long proposition to watch Tsai Ming-liang's "Hsiao-kang"series (along with some other works of his) in the order of their release:
okay so a dear friend asked me the best order to watch Tsai's filmography and although his movies are mostly self contained,with only the slightest allusions to what happened in previous films, I think there is an incomparable feeling to watching his collaborator Lee Kang-sheng mature on film, in a series of films that manages to surpass whatever Richard Linklater attempted to do with his film "Boyhood". Linklater committed the old hollywood mistake of trying to fit in events that are stereotypically cinematic and expected. you get the usual growing pains and wanting to carve out an identity in America or whatever. of course he doesn't try to overly universalize the experience of american boyhood. Linklater's protagonist is a boy whose parents have divorced and so that little bit of narrative leeway is granted to create a very clearcut stream of abusive potential stepdads and trying to get a girlfriend and an utterly baffling side plot where the protagonist's mother manages to help a native american boy go to college by giving him a generous tip? what the hell was that? soo in a way i tricked you all I'm afraid. this isn't necessarily a chronology because i could simply say "watch it in the order they were released" but rather a "why you should watch Tsai's films" and what an absolutely wonderful experience it can be. so to take it from the top we have:
Rebels of the Neon God (1992): when i started with this, i was just making my way into world cinema, so all the Godards and the Bergmans and the Kurosawas were familiar to me, but these films had, even at their most still moments, a great deal of activity about them. the only thing that might come close in stillness might be Wim Wenders' Paris Texas, but even that has a cast of characters that accompanies you alongside the plot, which is to say, there is a warmth you can find that you do not find in Rebels of the Neon God. This movie was immediately elusive. it presents Hsiao-kang, frustrated and disillusioned in Taipei, with no means of communicating his emotions to the audience except through his body, because we are so used to dialogue, and we will, as we continue, find that this movie might have the most dialogue in all of his filmography. We've got two lovers here to provide a subplot along the same themes of alienation in the city, but it is the way that all of this is let for the viewer to feel. you dont really get to find your place in the city, and in that way Tsai has made us feel exactly what his characters are feeling.
Vive l'amour (1994): now this was where i really really got Tai's work. that feeling of helplessness, the desire for communication in an empty city..no one else does that better than Tsai. and the ending, oh dear, thats where my love for his films started. i will describe it, because plot spoilers do not really matter with him. Yang Kuei-mei's character, who we have been following for the better part of the film, in between her work and her sex life, rushing in and out of frame. and here she is, as the movie ends, no grand monologue about loneliness, its just her crying, for five minutes, no one there to talk to in the early hours of the city, alone in a park. and she gets up, because she has to, because she has to work. and then it ends. how final it all is. how crushingly exact
The River (1997): following Hsiao-kang as he develops a mysterious chronic pain in his neck that will not go away, the film is a standout for what i think marks it has the point of artistic harmony between muse and director. Tsai, on set, frustrated with Lee, asked him if he could move faster, to keep up with the pace of the camera. and lee replies "cant you follow my own pace?" what seems at first an uncooperative assertion becomes a plea to consider how the narrative might work better if Lee were to be able to interpret it as per the pace of his body. the most memorable sequence here is one where he visit a sauna, with multiple other bodies looking for vacant rooms, shutting doors and walking at a languid pace. it is mesmerizing choreography and a standout in Tsai's considerations of the body as a communicative medium
The Hole (1998): not a proper Hsiao-kang entry per se, but an essential film nonetheless (well all of these are so that's not really saying much haha). But anyways, this is when Tsai gets into musical territory, and in true alienated individual fashion, the medium of the musical is used to grant us access into the inner life of characters that are unable to express themselves otherwise. The camera, and consequently the viewer, bears the onus of holding this conversation. It is a lovely work, and Yang kuei is able to inject so much playfulness in her musical segments.truly a star.
What Time is it There? (2001): this marks the entry of another Tsai collaborator - Cheng shiang-chyi and she is wonderful. The film itself serves a goodbye to Hsiao-kang’s father and the man who portrays him; Miao Tien, although his passing came in 2005. This is an understated film, much more about an unwillingness to let go, and of course, of how cruel chronology can be.
Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003): the second non Hsiao-kang entry, and here we are treated with elements of reality seeping in. now i have not done enough research on the political conditions surrounding this movie's production, although a friend did mention a great deal of censorship in Taiwan happening during the period of martial law from 1947-87, and then primetime television becoming prominent after this, the Fu-Ho theatre this movie was filmed in serves as the elegiac subject, where its patrons are seen more in vignettes; ships passing at 24 frames on celluloid, and then gone once the lights turn on. Tsai makes sure to use every space in the theatre and while there is a great deal of footage from the 1967 wuxia film "Dragon Inn”, it is not necessary to enjoy the film.
The Wayward Cloud (2005): essentially a follow up to “What Time is it there” this is my second favourite in Tsai’s filmography so far, it is another musical entry and getting a glimpse into Hsiao-kang’s inner turmoil through song, after so many films where he remains closed off to the audience; nothing compares really. This movie is erotic, it is explosive, it is at points uncomfortable as here Tsai turns up all his confrontations with sex and sexuality and throughout all of it, it is remarkable.
I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone (2006): the third non Hsiao-kang entry on the list and to compensate we have Lee in a dual role, although for the most part he is mostly immobile. The main focus here is circumnavigation,in desire, that is. As the cast weaves around Lee, the issues of communication central to Tsai’s work make themselves known. Set in Kuala Lumpur, the decay of urban architecture and the noise of the city offer an interesting space for Tsai to experiment.
Face (2009): Hsiao-Kang is a director now and well…yeah its not the most natural progression of events but this is mostly just Tsai showing his love for french cinema. A minor work, but a joyful watch nonetheless.
Stray Dogs (2013): it is here that we have completely gone out of Hsiao-Kang territory. We are presented then, with Taiwan at its most hostile, Lee portraying a homeless man struggling to care for his family. Well i cant say hes trying to care for them when he violently eats his daughter’s emotional support cabbage but oh well. It is Tsai at his most technically mature. Don't expect any fancy camera tricks though. You get the same still camera takes but they feel more refined now is all i can say.
Days (2020): haven watched this but i know its gonna be amazing.
