The skywalk is gone; How can my two actors encounters each other? seems to be the question being asked by director Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮) in the sentimental short film, The Skywalk is Gone (天橋不見了), which will be screening at Taipei's Cinemark cinema at the Living Mall (京華城喜滿客) today.
This is the first time that a 22-minute short is having an independent cinema release.
For the director's many fans, the language of Tsai's films continues lucid and rich in this short work, even though Taipei remains a cheerless place and his characters rarely have a chance of happiness. He does not, however, cater so well for those coming to his work for the first time.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TSAI MING-LIANG
In fact, Skywalk is really an extension of What Time is it There? (
In What Time is it There? the female protagonist, Hsiang-chi (
She hangs around Taipei Railway Station and the Mitsukoshi Department store, walking aimlessly. She comes across a woman who drags a huge suitcase. Hsiang-chi follows her. Then both are stopped by a policeman for jay walking. The woman argues that she wanted to take the skywalk, but it is no longer there.
And Hsiang-chi continues searching for Hsiao-kang, but can find no trace of him.
For director Tsai, Taipei is a rapidly changing city. Every 10 years, old memories are wiped away and places acquire a new look. Perhaps it is not too much of a coincidence that each of Tsai's films have landmarks that have since disappeared.
"It seems that many places that I shot for my films have vanished. This is kind of worrying!" said Tsai jokingly.
It's self-referential natures makes Skywalk somewhat difficult to understand, but Tsai maintains high production values and the short film is filled with precise shots, beautiful photography and good performances.
Exceptions to the rule are sometimes revealing. For a brief few years, there was an emerging ideological split between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) that appeared to be pushing the DPP in a direction that would be considered more liberal, and the KMT more conservative. In the previous column, “The KMT-DPP’s bureaucrat-led developmental state” (Dec. 11, page 12), we examined how Taiwan’s democratic system developed, and how both the two main parties largely accepted a similar consensus on how Taiwan should be run domestically and did not split along the left-right lines more familiar in
As I finally slid into the warm embrace of the hot, clifftop pool, it was a serene moment of reflection. The sound of the river reflected off the cave walls, the white of our camping lights reflected off the dark, shimmering surface of the water, and I reflected on how fortunate I was to be here. After all, the beautiful walk through narrow canyons that had brought us here had been inaccessible for five years — and will be again soon. The day had started at the Huisun Forest Area (惠蓀林場), at the end of Nantou County Route 80, north and east
This month the government ordered a one-year block of Xiaohongshu (小紅書) or Rednote, a Chinese social media platform with more than 3 million users in Taiwan. The government pointed to widespread fraud activity on the platform, along with cybersecurity failures. Officials said that they had reached out to the company and asked it to change. However, they received no response. The pro-China parties, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), immediately swung into action, denouncing the ban as an attack on free speech. This “free speech” claim was then echoed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC),
Specialty sandwiches loaded with the contents of an entire charcuterie board, overflowing with sauces, creams and all manner of creative add-ons, is perhaps one of the biggest global food trends of this year. From London to New York, lines form down the block for mortadella, burrata, pistachio and more stuffed between slices of fresh sourdough, rye or focaccia. To try the trend in Taipei, Munchies Mafia is for sure the spot — could this be the best sandwich in town? Carlos from Spain and Sergio from Mexico opened this spot just seven months ago. The two met working in the
RSS