Big changes ahead for Taiwanese cinema by Rickard James Havis
lugubrious historical debut, A Bor
sexually-confused youth, and his
rowed Life. Stylistically, Chang Tso-chi’s Ah Chung stood out from the
relationship with his family.
majority of Taiwanese films, bringing a
his father and his mother has bro
Communication between Xiao,
raw, documentary-style edge to a
ken down, and all three lead
modern-day subject.
separate lives. They are the ulti
ntil recently, those only
liang are trying to cast aside the social
casually acquainted
element of their work altogether, seek
with Taiwanese cinema
ing a more personal, introspective
is currently the talk of the film festival
could be forgiven for
form of cinema.
circuit, we’ll start with him. Tsai, who
massage an ache in his neck, while
originally trained in television, first
in one scene he engages in homo
came to critics’ attention with 19 9 2’s
sexual sex with his father. The River
Rebels of the Neon God. Rebels was a
differs from T sai’s earlier films
U
thinking it had some
Furthermore, even more radical
are set for the future. Shrink how become trapped in the changes past. Since ing government financial assistance the ‘New Cinema’ of the early 1980s sig and difficulty winning audiences at nalled a rebirth ofTaiwanese cinema,
As the 40-year-old Tsai Ming-liang
mate dysfunctional family: his mother lends him hervibratorto
bleak story of urban ennui and teen
because it explores what is going on in Xiao’s head rather than how
films from the island have generally
home - something put down to Tai
rebellion set in Taipei, and laid the the
focused on historical issues: the Japan
wan’s primitive way of distributing
matic foundations for the film that
he interfaces with the society that surrounds him. Tsai:
ese occupation; the anti-communist
films to c in e m a s - has led to filmmak
made Tsai’s name, 1994’s Vive
White Terror campaign; life under the
ers deciding to make films with a less
Kuomintang in the 1950s; etc.
intellectual, more mainstream appeal.
L‘Amour. Vive L’Amour is a bleak, cold story
The reason for this interest in the
Four works by Taiwanese directors
of urban alienation in contemporary
past has been twofold. First, directors
-H o u Hsiao-hsien’s Goodbye, South,
Taiwan. Set in a sparsely-furnished
like Hou Hsiao-hsien thought that a
Goodbye, Tsai Ming-liang’s The River, Wu Nien-jen’s Buddha Bless America,
Taipei, the story revolves around three
decision to address the situation in
and Chang Tso-chi’s Ah Chung - make
depressed 20-somethings looking for
public.
it clear that both old and new directors
purpose and companionship - and
want to break with the traditional
finding little of either. Like a film by
thorough analysis of Taiwan’s 20th
apartment in a new towerblock in
It’s certainly a change from my first two films. Rebels o f the Neon God is really about the social environment in Taipei. Vive L ’Amour sees the environ ment begin to blend with the
century history would throw some light on the cultural identity of modern Taiwan. Taiwan is a relatively new country and, culturally, has a diverse heritage: it’s a complex mixture of mainland Chinese, indigenous Tai wanese, Japanese, and even American components. The New Cinema direc tors wanted to use cinema to make some sense of this cultural stew. The second reason was simply a matter of record: much of Taiwan’s post-1945 history was not written down, and the directors wanted to
Nr-ön-■■
leave a record for future generations. Important events had been sup pressed by the Kuomintang government, and the filmmakers used cinema to bring these incidents out into the open. For instance, Hou Hsiaohsien’s A City of Sadness told of the notorious 2-28 incident, when Nation alist troops from the mainland massacred indigenous Taiwanese protesting about their treatment at the hands of the Kuomintang in 1947. Hou’s film is nowadays said to have forced the Taiwanese Government’s
But Taiwanese cinema, like the country itself, is changing fast. The
themes and styles that have generally
Italian director Michelangelo Anto
past five years saw the rise of what’s
characterized the New Cinema. Master
nioni, Vive L ’Amour plays out to
become known as the Second or New
director Hou Hsiao-hsien has made a
display the loneliness of the three sad
Wave of directors, a group equally
contemporary-set movie, only the sec
characters as they attempt to interact
Tsai is often criticized, especially by
interested in contemporary society as
ond in his prolific career, and claimed
with one another.
Taiwanese audiences, for making his
history. Films like Hsu Hsiao-ming’s
to be aiming for a more direct struc
Dust of Angels, Tsai M ing-liang’s Rebels of the Neon God and Chen Kuofu’s Treasure Island began to look at
ture than in the past. Tsai Ming-liang
ues to voice his concerns about the
said that his The River had nothing to
alienation of life in a modern city. But,
New Cinema works. In fact, some find
do with his inner life. Wu Nien-jen, a
this time around, he tries a different
them too superficial; compared with
the effects of Taiwan’s rapid modern
prolific scriptwriter who has penned
approach. The story centres on Xiao-
the frantic dialogue and wild plot
ization on the urban dwellers,
more than 70 works for New Cinema
kang (the same character who has
diversions of recent films by Edward
especially the young.
directors, directed a comedy, some
appeared in different guises in Tsai’s
Yang, or the fragmentary visions of
thing that stood in stark contrast to his
previous films), a rather aim less and
Hou’s latest films, T sai’s movies are
Today, directors like Tsai Ming-
14
characters. The River explores the inner feelings of the main character: by now, the city is just used as a way of expressing what’s going on in his head. It’s a much more expressionistic approach.
In his latest, The River, Tsai contin
films too complex. But, actually, they are far more accessible than many
C I N E M A P A P E R S • J UNE 1998