Jiao you

I have come to terms with the judgement that Tsai Ming-liang is a skilled artist who makes movies that are not for me. But I keep watching them, because: 'Hey! Maybe this one will be it!?'

daha once ruya/absurd tarzda apartman dairelerinde kisisel konforunda izole yasayan ve belki temas arayan serseri insanciklar nihayet bir araya gelmis, (niyeyse) 2 cocuk yapmislar. ama maalesef hiperrealism bu sevgi/iletisim arayan cifti tokatlamis (hem de en mutlu olmalari gereken gunde) tulay nolur geri don'e getirmis

Some shots linger for far too long.

Contemplative cinema, of which this is a fine example, offers opportunity to take in images and sit with them a while. But it also highlights the cuts between scenes, and no one is better at cutting than Tsai (see the last in the film, for example). Furthermore, Lee Kang-sheng offers us one more magnificent performance, no better than in the cabbage scene where he manages to combine despair, drunken unpredictability, and comedy into the same event.

leads astray

Can be appreciated as an acting tour de force by Lee Kang Sheng. Tsai convinces me in nearly every one of his films that he is one of the greatest working film actors. I do think that, content-wise, this is familiar ground for Tsai. So much so, in fact, that I’m not sure if he does anything unique here. But the images are beautiful (of course). You can’t compare his films to anyone else’s. Overall, a middling work compared to his others.

As one can imagine, a film about homeless people titled Stray Dogs is plain to see and easy to comprehend. Where it may be difficult to digest is Tsai's very particular brand of austerity, and this film stretches to the absolute extremities of unbroken static images. In effect, a simple distillation of this filmmaker's running themes: these characters exist in a time and space apparently all their own.

What an ending!

Tsai Ming-liang just feels like one of those directors where I'm going to like everything he does.

I'm too dumb to understand what happened in the third act, but I liked the movie anyway.

(Viewed in 2015): The praise for Ming-liang has largely eluded me. Aside from Goodbye Dragon In and What Time Is It There?, I haven't responded all that positively to his work and his formal skills don't overly impress. He has a tendency to hold a shot far longer than what is necessary, so that even when he does create a striking image, such as the final shot in Stray Dogs, its effect is slightly diminished by its duration. There are some very good moments, but it's easier to respect than love.

Star Rating: ★★★★1/2

Too demanding

Tsai by Numbers, or The Interminable Pathos of Cabbage.

Desperately searching for tranquility within the restlessness of modern life, contentment within the confines of poverty, and a normal family experience in places where it seems to impossible. It's like an Ozu film, if Ozu's films were emotionally detached, a little terrifying, impossibly drawn out and tense enough to turn your stomach into knots. It's a great film.

11 Eylul 2013 & tekrar tekrar izlemek istiyorum. tarifi imkansiz.