The Melbourne Cinémathèque & ACMI present
Goodbye, Dragon Inn
When
Wed 31 May 2023
This mournful but playful homage to cinema is perhaps Tsai’s greatest film. A ghost story of sorts, the film meticulously surveys the shadowy but cavernous spaces inside an old movie theatre over its closing night. From the rainy marquee to different seats in the cinema itself, Tsai lovingly conjures the atmosphere of mystery, intimacy and shared experience that embodies the moviegoing experience. With Lee Kang-Sheng, Chen Chao-Jung and Chun Shih (also star of King Hu’s Dragon Inn, which provides an unlikely but poignant closing night film) as himself.
Preceded by The Skywalk Is Gone Tsai Ming-Liang (2002) 25 mins.
This “sequel” to What Time Is it There? sees Chen Shiang-Chyi’s character return home to a Taipei she barely recognises. Inspired by the real-life destruction of the skywalk featured in the previous film.
Also screening on Wed 31 May
Program
One Day at a Time: The cinema of Tsai Ming-Liang
What Time Is It There? (2001) – Wed 31 May, 7pm
Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003) – Wed 31 May, 9.15pm
Rebels of the Neon God (1992) – Wed 7 Jun, 7pm
The Wayward Cloud (2005) – Wed 7 Jun, 9pm
The River (1997) – Wed 14 Jun, 7pm
Days (2020) – Wed 14 Jun, 9.10pm
About the program
Of all the notable figures of to emerge in 1990s world cinema, few have developed a corpus of work as consistently transfixing and distinctive as that of Malaysian-Taiwanese auteur Tsai Ming-Liang (1957–). Born in Kuching, Sarawak, Tsai was largely raised by his cinephile grandparents, who would take him to the movies twice a day from the age of three...
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About Melbourne Cinémathèque
Australia's longest-running film society, Melbourne Cinémathèque screens significant works of international cinema in the medium they were created, the way they would have originally screened.
Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered, volunteer-run, not-for-profit and membership-driven.
