Goodbye Dragon Inn - (Dir. Tsai Ming-Liang, 2003)

(Reviewed 5/5 on letterboxd in Oct 2016)

"No one goes to the movies any more", remarks one of the members of the audience to another towards the end of the film. They happen to be only two of the three who sat through the entire film (King Hu's Dragon Inn); the third being a child. There is also a good reason why they sat through it which I will not reveal. Tsai clearly seems to wax nostalgic about the ritual of watching films at single screen theatre's. It was something more than just spending some of the extra bucks that yuppies make today.
"The theatre is haunted", says one of the many men smoking around the deserted premises of the theatre. You never figure out which of these might be ghosts but clearly the theatre has its own spirit as we see the characters roaming around the semi lit corridors. The rickety sounds of their footsteps, the distant echos of the movie playing on the screen, the incessant rain, the loneliness; all seem to add to the haunting personality of this decrepit yet majestic theatre. As with so many Tsai movies, there is a Tatiesque "lame" and "gay" joke running through the entire length of the film and finally you are also left with the possibility of a deeply affecting story of unrequited love between two of the characters who run this theatre. Clearly, Tsai loves to titillate us with possibilities both on and off screen that make his films so magical.
Finally, if you are one of those critical of the long shot aesthetic, you absolutely must watch this film. It has perhaps the greatest compilation of static long shots I have ever seen. All in all, this is clearly one of those films with the imprint of a genius at work.