New set of films from a little while ago:
The Time to Live and The Time to Die
by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
The greatest of Hou's coming of age films and also one of his best films altogether. Hou is an extremely subtle and yet rigorous formalist, with justification for every one of his formal decisions within the thematic or narrative components of the story. The film's jump midway through the film in time naturally brings together Hou's greatest strength, relating and examining the relationship between national and personal histories. Despite being autobiographical, the film is shot in a much more distanced perspective than would be expected. This is both in keeping with Hou's style and with his meticulously detailed and articulate analysis of the past. This is a masterpiece among masterpieces from a great director I feel I'm only beginning to know.
Dust in the Wind
by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Perhaps it was due to it being left in the shadow of the much more grand (though Hou's grand is very personal) film above, but I found
Dust in the Wind to be the weakest of the three coming of age films. While certainly still a very interesting and technically sound film, I just didn't connect with this film as much as
A Summer at Grandpa's and
The Time to Live and The Time to Die. The presence of Li Tian-Lu is always fun and interesting, the man has an extraordinary charisma for his age and is a joy to watch. The plight of the main character feels more superficial here than even in a past version of himself (the first and third films are based on Chu Tien-wen's life). By no means a bad film, and it's in fact a good (perhaps great) film, but when measuring it against Hou's standard in the previous two films, it fell a little short for me.
Three Times
by Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou's 2005 film,
Three Times feels a bit like an omnibus or anthology film in that it is composed of several short films, one of which is good, another okay, and another not so good. This film happens to present the films in that order. The film's first segment, set in 1960s Taiwan feel like Hou Hsiao-Hsien doing Wong Kar-Wai. For as shallow as the central romance may be in the segment, I can't help but fall for the lush colors and stylized glamour of the 60s so inherent in Wong's 60s set work, and Hou's new camerawork featuring lush, gliding long takes that flow kinetically. The also new use of shallow focus creates colorful backdrops instead of seeming like a lazy alternative to filling the frame. The second segment is also beautifully shot and maintains interest as well as having the strongest connection to its time period. Ultimately, it fall a little short in its silent film homage, feeling a little shallow and conflicted towards whether to pay homage or update the language. The third segment begins with a tremendous kinetic shot. After the mostly static shots of Hou's 80s and 90s films (with the exception of pans), it's incredible to see the director branch out and experiment with his shooting style here and in the first segment. The rest of the segment is fairly lackluster though. Hou's opinion of the modern world is fairly regular for a man of his age. One glimpse at the title, "A Time for Youth," shows how limited Hou's view of modern Taiwan is. A great film in some regards, but an unremarkable one in others.
Goodbye Dragon Inn
by Tsai Ming-Liang
Tsai's aesthetics ensure that his film lacks a certainly degree of subtlety, which is not inherently a bad thing. Some shots, such as an extended shot of a woman cleaning up the theater before leaving the static shot of the empty theater for several minutes, depend too much on their form than the actual context or meaning. That being said, a lot of Tsai's film works in its semi-comic melancholy. While fairly simplistic, Tsai's formal elements match, nearly literally, the film's content. Without Tsai's long shots and long takes, the film might seem more like a holistic comedy than its tragicomic leanings.
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