MovieChat Forums > Bu san (2003) Discussion > Is this film's point relevant?

Is this film's point relevant?

posted 19 years ago by duandsku
6 replies | jump to latest

Goodbye, Dragon Inn, seems to be, first and foremost, about an old movie theater standing on its last legs before it reaches its inevitable shutdown.

However, this seems to be tied in by reviews and a few lines in the film that the film is really about "the end of movies"...i.e., "No one goes to movies anymore."

Are movies, as an art form, really standing on their last legs? Considering the slow, deliberate poetry of the film, perhaps its referring to the death of the art movie, but the films that the patrons at the theater were watching were old Asian martial arts films, which to me seemed like mainstream fare.

This might seem like nagging, but the point seems to be, scratching a little bit beneath the service, that all movies are dying, from the mainstream action films they were watching in the theater, to art films like the film itself.

But I'm not sure if I believe this. I rented Goodbye, Dragon Inn at BLOCKBUSTER, for God sakes, so the art film doesn't seem to be dying. And there sure are a lot of mainstream films making money at the box office, keeping a lot of theaters in business.

So, is the film's point valid?

[–] anak_d 19 years ago

I think that's it's a movie about movies only in the surface.

I think deep down it's more a study about ambiance and loneliness, like all Tsai Ming-Liang films. Every time I rewatch it it's what comes to me ... the empty hallways, echoing footsteps ... it's truly an "experience" film. It sorts of reminds you of all the smells and little sounds of life that are getting forgotten these days, a concept that is also very Asian. And most of all, the film is simply an empty vase; it looks beautiful on the outside and it's perfectly crafted, but you're the one who has to fill it up with whatever you want. For me "GDI" represents those things I just mentioned.

And regarding Blockbuster, Tsai Ming-Liang is almost a miracle; his films are amazingly "difficult" yet he somehow managed to get relatively famous. And yes, I think that, to a great extent the art film is dying, mostly with globalization and the "miramaxation" of Art Films.

Back to the "Death of Cinema" theme (which as I already said, I find a superficial analysis of the film), I got Tsai's message the first time I saw the film (by accident, without even knowing who he was) and I was amazingly captivated by it.

I'm only 20 years old, so therefore I never experienced the "old style" of movie-going, except when I was very young with my grandmother (like Tsai himself), so the film brough some of those really strange memories to mind, so I think that, in that matter, the film's point spoke to me.

[–] duandsku 19 years ago

I'd like to thank you for responding, it was a while ago.

I'm not quite certain what I think the film's point is. I mean, yes, it's a film about loneliness, but I definitely think the main character of the film is the theater and its final days before it shuts down. That's the only way I can really figure it out that makes me appreciate it.

I have not seen any of the director's films, so perhaps that would give me more backstory.

[–] randydolens 19 years ago

Tsai said something to me once that supported Anak's interpretation...I asked him if he was paying tribute to King Hu as an artist with this film, and he said that no, he didn't really think og "Dragon Gate Inn" in artistic terms--that he was more interested in the role films like it had in people's lives. Here, I think it functions as counterpoint to the "reality" of the story going on in the theater.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hansel714 17 years ago

Tsai doesn't get much funding even though his movies won awards and are distributed. Mostly because the films aren't successful in Taiwan, and the worldwide audience for Taiwanese films are limited.

Tsai himself claims that he could hardly support himself. He further says that even awards such as Sundance and Berlin are increasingly giving the prizes to commerically feasible films. _Dreamgirls_ would probably be one of the examples.

So Tsai says without funding, he couldn't possibly make films anymore, and not that people stop going to the movies.

[–] floating_jetsam 17 years ago

Just watched this 'poetic' movie. Nice to see a movie that doesn't slam high speed action down your throut and leave you catching your breath at the end...

Is it relevant? I do believe so:

There will always be 'art' films such as this, but, there is a trend. Look at "2001: A Space Oddyssey" this movie is dripping in art, and ambiance... but if it was made today by a big studio... it would be a different animal altogether. Instead of those quiet stretches of film when little or nothing happens, there would be explosions, tense on your seat action and lots of suspense.

Todays audience 'in general' seem to be unwilling to let a movie be an experience, but want the movie to easily unfold and display it's wares for all to see without much forethought by the audience.

People are still going to the movies, but for a different reason, no longer going to experience a movie, but let the movie happen while they sit back and relax (or have fun yaking or making a nuisance.) Single screen theatres seem to have given way to multi-plexs too.