THE MISSION TO TAIPEI

though i'm not going to have time to appreciate much of it, i do quite enjoy the san francisco film festival. last year, shane and i happened to be in town while it was taking place and took some time to check out oliver stone's comandante, which was enjoyable. this year, i've decided to see as much as i can... but with the pre-e3 nonesense just beginning, it's going to be difficult. but, more on that later.

last night shane, carlos, and i hit the pacific film archive at the berkeley campus for a screening of lee kang-sheng's "the missing". if you've heard his name before, then you likely know of him as the actor from all of tsai ming-liang's films; "the hole", "vive l'amour", and "what time is it there?" are all excellent, as far as i'm concerned.

"the missing" is shot by liao pen-jung, ming-liang's cinematographer, and it's quite obvious. in fact, much of the film's style is directly influenced by the previously mentioned films. and i enjoy and appreciate that fact. lee kang-sheng has had an important role in the creation of all tsai ming-liang's work... it's only natural that his own film would maintain many of the elements of those he has helped create in the past. so you get the long takes, the miminal production, the superb acting, and the clever, filmic realization of space that's present in ming-liang's work. and yes, if you saw this film and nobody told you otherwise, you'd likely think it was tsai ming-liang's. but that doesn't bother me. why? because it was really, really fantanstic.

i won't spoil it -- i'd hope that some of you will one day be able to actually see it -- but the film basically follows two simultaneously occuring tales about people who've lost a loved one. they're not dead... just missing. the two main characters -- a high-school-aged boy and a grandmother -- deal with this pain in different ways. both actor's really step up to their roles and deliver in this regard... with one frantically searching the city and the other leisurely wasting away the day at a lan center playing counter-strike, the viewer is treated to two differently paced, yet complimentary, narratives. and it is because the film presents the video gamer and the lan gaming scene so accurately that this works. anybody who doesn't understand the calming aspect of playing a first-person shooter will hopefully be a bit more informed about the subject afterwards, for example. gaming is not always pretty... but it's something to do. this film gets that.

but what's most stunning about the piece is its ability to virtually transport the viewer to taipei. i've never been there, and yet, i feel as if i could give you a tour of the main locales in that movie. and i really understand the beauty of that city... the way it functions... or i think i do anyway. if you have no desire to actually take a trip over to taiwan, then find a way to see this film and your mind will be changed. the way most films are shot today, it's hard to remember the importance of the long shot... that is, until you see something like this. spaces, not just faces. that's what i'm talking about.

you know what makes me happy: next sunday, tsai ming-liang's new film is being shown at the pfa as part of the festival. so if you plan to be in the bay area at 6:30 next sunday, feel free to join me for the screening of "goodbye, dragon inn" at the berkeley campus. the film is apparently linked somehow to "the missing." i've heard that they even share a few characters. but mainly, it's the way taipei is represented that makes them similar, i hear. and lee kang-sheng stars, as expected... so it should be interesting. come, join me!

also, we saw "kill bill vol. 2 friday evening. i thought it was totally enjoyable, much in the same way the first film was... though they feel very different to me. i'd recommend it, though it seems feelings on this pair are mixed... if nothing else, though, the craftsmanship is there. quentin knows his stuff.

tonight i'm headed to la for the first of this year's off-campus pre-e3 events. the idea is that if we have time to cover the games now, we'll have more time at e3 to appreciate what's there. i suppose we'll have to see if it works out that way or not. the immediate consequence of such events is that i have no time these next two weeks and about ten events to attend. i'm not looking forward to it. though i do get the chance to visit with oli tonight, so that should be enjoyable.

finally, shane is leaving san francisco today... it's been real having you up here, kid. i'll miss you. oh, and those new kicks are super-sweet. say hello to my taco shop for me. oh, and apple updated their hardware as rumored... time to buy a computer and an isight. that goes for all of you out there! Posted by ryan at April 19, 2004 09:46 AM