Tsai Ming-Liang: An American Cinematheque Retrospective - Your Face

The American Cinematheque is honored to welcome the legendary Malaysian-Taiwanese filmmaker, Tsai Ming-liang, in-person for a 14-film retrospective celebrating his incomparable career as one of the leading figures in the “Second New Wave” of Taiwanese cinema. Tsai’s work exudes an unparalleled beauty, as his camera lingers in and around the quiet corners of urban cities, forming enigmatic character studies in the lonely existence of his many alienated subjects. Actor Lee Kang-sheng is often tasked with embodying one of these lonely urban inhabitants, as he has appeared in all of Tsai’s feature films to-date, and whom we are pleased to welcome alongside the filmmaker in Q&As during this very special tribute to one of the vital voices in world cinema.

In Mandarin with English subtitles.

Tsai Ming-Liang makes portrait shots of 13 individuals, including his regular actor Lee Kang-Sheng and Lee’s mother. Some speak of their pasts; one massages her face; one plays the harmonica; another dozes off. There is a lot of silence, fittingly accompanied by Ryuichi Sakamoto’s hypnotic, minimalist score. Subverting the talking-head documentary tradition, Tsai refocuses our gaze on the shifting light and the passage of time evident on these gentle faces.

FORMAT: DCP

DISTRIBUTOR: Home Green Films

COUNTRY: Taiwan

Cost: $8.00 (member); $13.00 (general admission)