Goodbye, Dragon Inn

82 mins | 2003 | Fiction | Mandarin | English Subtitles
4K Restoration
Toronto Premiere

The last screening before an old movie theater shuts its doors forever. A young Japanese man runs into the theater for refuge from the pouring rain. The theater appears empty, void of life, yet there are presences other than just the few spectators…

The crippled female ticket clerk and the young projectionist have never been able to meet, even though they both work in the same theater, day after day. Since tonight is her last chance,  the pretty clerk wants to share her peach-shaped fortune cake with the handsome projectionist. But when she stops by the projection room, he is still not there. She refuses to leave the theater without one last look at him. She searches for him through the labyrinth-like passageways of the old movie house…

The gigantic screen glows with Dragon Inn, a hit wuxia film from 36 years ago. The Japanese man notices a couple men who look very much like the actors on screen. Older now, sitting in the dark and empty theater. Watching their own film, reminiscing, mourning…  

Are these persons real? Or are they spirits who refuse to leave?

Born in Malaysia in 1957, TSAI Ming-Liang is one of the most prominent film directors of the new cinema movement in Taiwan. In 1994, his film Vive L’ Amour won the Golden Lion Award at the 51st Venice Film Festival, and this helped establish a place for him in the world of international film. In 2009, Face became the first film to be included in the collection of the Louvre Museum’s “Le Louvre s’offre aux cinéastes.” It has since become the benchmark for films venturing into the world of art galleries. In recent years, TSAI Ming-Liang has also moved on to installation art. His works have been well-received in Venice, Shanghai and Nagoya. Since 2012, he has been working on a long project to film Lee Kang-Sheng’s slow walk, cooperating with various cities and organizations. To date, he has completed seven short works. His 10th feature Stray Dogs (2013) was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at the 70th Venice Film Festival. In 2014, he presented the critically acclaimed theater work The Monk from Tang Dynasty in arts festivals in Brussels, Vienna, Gwangju and Taipei. That same year, TSAI made history by bringing his movie Stray Dogs at the Museum at MoNTUE and the Museum of National Taipei University of Education.