Hou Hsiao-Hsien

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

I just saw Flowers of Shanghai and really enjoyed it. What else is good?

― ryan (ryan), Monday, 14 March 2005 03:04 (5 years ago) Permalink

Goodbye South, Goodbye is good.

― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 14 March 2005 04:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

It's a relatively unknown bit of trivia, but famed wrestler "Triple H" dubbed himself that in honor of his favorite director. His second choice for a name? "Puppetmaster".

― Gear! (can Jung shill it, Mu?) (Gear!), Monday, 14 March 2005 05:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

in a perfect world that would be true.

on another note: how in the hell do you pronounce his name?

― ryan (ryan), Monday, 14 March 2005 05:32 (5 years ago) Permalink

I have that Sino Movie 4-DVD box that still shows up fairly regularly on eBay. I haven't freed up any time to watch any of the films, but I'll report back once I do.

(Of the four, A Time to Live and a Time to Die is supposedly the more fully-realized masterpiece.)

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Monday, 14 March 2005 05:46 (5 years ago) Permalink

A Time to Live and a Time to Die is indeed a fully realized masterpiece.
Daughter of the Nile and Dust in the Wind are quite good, too.
And his name is pronounced "Ho (like Ho Chi Minh) Show (rhymes with how now brown cow) Shen"

― Dr Benway (dr benway), Monday, 14 March 2005 07:06 (5 years ago) Permalink

The only thing I've seen is "Goodbye South Goodbye", which didn't really appeal to me. It could have been that I just wasn't in the mood for such a painfully slow film the day I watched it.

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Monday, 14 March 2005 14:40 (5 years ago) Permalink

Not Hsiao-Hsien, but I watched this last night & quite enjoyed it--

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Monday, 14 March 2005 14:44 (5 years ago) Permalink

The Puppetmaster is my fave after Flowers. If you found GSG painfully slow, he may not be for you.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 14 March 2005 15:12 (5 years ago) Permalink

It wasn't the slow pace that bothered me, it's the fact that it didn't seem to have a purpose. A film like "L'Avvenura" or "Gerry" being slow is fitting with the themes of the film. I just didn't see a connection with the plot that justified the pacing.

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Monday, 14 March 2005 15:45 (5 years ago) Permalink

If you found GSG painfully slow, he may not be for you.

This isn't the case--I watched "Flowers of Shanghai" tonight & it was incredible (definitely one of the best films I've seen this year).

And it's not slow films either--I watched "Goodbye Dragon Inn" yesterday (possibly the slowest film I've ever seen) and enjoyed it greatly. I guess GSG just didn't work for me for some reason.

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Sunday, 20 March 2005 02:03 (5 years ago) Permalink

how about that what-seemed-like-5-minutes shot of an empty theater in Goodbye Dragon Inn? i found it pretty poignant for about 70% of its length, then i started to laugh and thought "only in an asian art film," and then got sad, and then remembered i still had to do my laundry, and the i thought i saw something move, and then i realized nothing had moved, and then i shifted in my chair, and then i zoned out, and then the shot ended. it was really something.

good movie though.

― ryan (ryan), Sunday, 20 March 2005 03:55 (5 years ago) Permalink

FUCK! Cafe Lumiere isn't on the slate for the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival!!!

http://mnfilmarts.org/m-spiff/2005/

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Sunday, 20 March 2005 15:38 (5 years ago) Permalink

i think I ran through the same range of emotions with GDI, ryan. I had to check my DVD player's time display several times during the film to make sure that i hadn't paused the disc by mistake.

I would like to see this film in a theater--i think I missed some of the self-reflexive impact that a "movie that takes place in a movie theater while you watch it in a movie theater" has.

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Sunday, 20 March 2005 16:07 (5 years ago) Permalink

i wish it was possible to do an experiment to tell whether people are actually paying attention to the movie or just day dreaming. i think one reason i love slow movies is that i sometimes something in the movie will send off on a 5 minute day dream and i wont have really missed anything plot wise. i kind of like it when a movie does not demand my attention.

― ryan (ryan), Monday, 21 March 2005 01:45 (5 years ago) Permalink

doesn't kiarostami consider it an honor (or at the very least, not mind at all) if the audience falls asleep during his movies? i think i read a quote to that effect, anyway.

jay OTM about dragon inn - i really enjoyed it, but felt like i was missing out having to watch it at home. i'm not sure that i can identify why, but i think there's more to it than just the theatre-as-subject, though. maybe how enveloped you're allowed to become in the lengthy takes? i saw what time is it there? on the big screen and it was amazing... but i am sort of loathe to go back and watch some of his earlier films on dvd.

― a spectator bird (a spectator bird), Monday, 21 March 2005 02:47 (5 years ago) Permalink

i saw goodbye dragon inn in the theater and it was indeed amazing. watched the river on dvd & didn't know what to make of it.

re: kiarostami, i've heard that too, i want to say maybe in the interview on the criterion taste of cherry dvd?

― andrew s (andrew s), Monday, 21 March 2005 06:10 (5 years ago) Permalink

The self-reflexiveness of GDI was certainly felt the 2 times I saw it in a theater.

The empty auditorium shot acquires meaning the longer it goes on. I found the last shot of GSG much more gimmicky and opaquely "cute."

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 21 March 2005 14:29 (5 years ago) Permalink

The empty auditorium shot acquires meaning the longer it goes on.

Absolutely. It's almost a disappointment when it ends.

Has anyone seen "Last Life in the Universe"? I wanted to rent it last night but I was already over my rental limit. The cast looks good & Christopher Doyle shot it, so it's got to look nice at least.

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Monday, 21 March 2005 14:56 (5 years ago) Permalink

i have seen it. i loved it. very beautifully shot too.

― ryan (ryan), Monday, 21 March 2005 15:30 (5 years ago) Permalink

Thanks Ryan--I'll rent it this week.

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Monday, 21 March 2005 17:06 (5 years ago) Permalink

I saw "Last Life" at the Toronto Fest '03 (same week as Gbye Dragon Inn) and found it garbled and kinda precious despite the good look and Tadanobu Asano. The director was funny in the Q&A -- some dopey woman asked a witless question about all the smoking in the film, so he kept coming back to smoking as the KEY to the film until she fled.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 21 March 2005 21:36 (5 years ago) Permalink

hahaha. it is precious though i agree.

― ryan (ryan), Tuesday, 22 March 2005 01:03 (5 years ago) Permalink

Started watching "Last Life..." last night (only got about halfway through & stuff came up so I had to stop it). It's pretty good so far.

I had no idea what you guys meant by "precious", but it took me about five minutes into the film before it became crystal clear. It's not as bad as, say, "Garden State", but the convieniences & cute coincidences are annoying.

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Monday, 28 March 2005 19:18 (5 years ago) Permalink

yeah i like that stuff about it tho! havent seen garden state tho so i cant compare. i just thought it was really charming and sad, i am a total sucker for movies with that general aesthetic, it's basically the kind of movie i am always hoping to see.

― ryan (ryan), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 00:45 (5 years ago) Permalink

ryan, rereading my post, it sounds a lot harsher than I meant it to be. I finished watching "Last Life..." tonight & really enjoyed it. I think I'm going to have my girlfriend watch it as an introduction to modern Asian cinema--it seems pretty accessible, as it seems very "American-indie film" influenced (although much better than most of what is coming out of that genre lately).

Back on HHH, has anyone seen "Millenium Mambo"? I'd never heard of it, but saw it listed in the Palm Pictures catalog & then found it on Amazon for $6.98. If I get one thumbs up from someone here, I'm buying it.

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Tuesday, 29 March 2005 01:54 (5 years ago) Permalink

Just got my Sino Movie HHH boxset in the mail today.....teh cool.

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Friday, 1 April 2005 23:58 (5 years ago) Permalink

"Dust In the Wind" was fantastic--can't wait to watch the other three films in this set. I was upset at first about the lack of "touching up" (there is a lot of artifacts, slipped frames, etc.) but it almost adds to the film in a way. The cinematography was gorgeous & the opening shot absolutely blew me away (the train sequences reminded me quite a bit of Goodbye South Goodbye, which I'm really starting to think I judged unfairly, partly because I wasn't in the mood for a challenging film that day & also because I was unaccustomed to slow Taiwanese art films at the time. I'll be sure to give a review when I give it another chance.

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Sunday, 3 April 2005 03:01 (5 years ago) Permalink

"Millenium Mambo" was not what I was expecting, but was still pretty good. Probably the most accessible HHH I've seen, with Flowers of Shanghai being a close second. Next up is "The Time to Live and the Time to Die".

― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Monday, 4 April 2005 02:27 (5 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

Klawans really loves Three Times!

― TRG (TRG), Monday, 8 May 2006 18:21 (4 years ago) Permalink

I saw Kohi Jiko ("cafe lumiere") a few months ago... and i really liked it (i was in the minority of the group i went with).

There was talk of the heavy debt to Ozu (who I'm not familiar with) but I definitely want to see it again.

― Steve Shasta (Steve Shasta), Monday, 8 May 2006 19:00 (4 years ago) Permalink

I feel like I was in minority as well, but I loved Cafe Lumiere. It was intended to be a tribute to Ozu.

― TRG (TRG), Monday, 8 May 2006 19:49 (4 years ago) Permalink

Three Times was ok. Loved parts of it but kind of feel like it may be one of his weaker films. He lost me with the last segment.

― TRG (TRG), Tuesday, 16 May 2006 16:56 (4 years ago) Permalink

5 months pass...

Three Times is out on DVD. I liked the third segment best despite my suspicion that he's better with concubines than modern women (Flowers of Shanghai vs Cafe Lumiere). The first segment is a protracted variation on the soldier-meets-civilian meet-cute scenaerio; the second, filmed as a silent movie, makes me wish he'd abandon dialogue altogether.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 6 November 2006 01:06 (3 years ago) Permalink

i like the first third of Three Times - mainly, i suppose, because i like looking at cute, well dressed people smoking cigarettes but it did seem to have some kind of emotional weight. as for the second section, i agree with Alfred, he should have jettisoned the intertitle dialogues and made it a silent silent-movie. the third section though is so bad it retrospectively ruined the good things that had preceded it. there's a thin line between still & meaningful and something just beiing completely vacuous. it makes you think you had given him too much credit up til then.

i guess i would like to see his other films so i can test this.

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 6 November 2006 19:29 (3 years ago) Permalink

and I vote for the second segment.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 7 November 2006 14:58 (3 years ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

shoul i go see the (5 hour!) "A City of Sadness" later this month?

― jed_, Sunday, 4 March 2007 14:36 (3 years ago) Permalink

isn't it 4? It might be a bit of a trial if you haven't seen Hou before. But yes.

― Dr Morbius, Monday, 5 March 2007 14:31 (3 years ago) Permalink

Hmm 2h 37 minutes - a misprint on the brochure has it listed at 297 minutes. i guess 2 1/2 hours is fine.

― jed_, Monday, 5 March 2007 23:24 (3 years ago) Permalink

ah this was a good old ILF thread...

― ryan, Wednesday, 7 March 2007 05:57 (3 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

Armond nailed Flight of the Red Balloon for me, I'm afraid (except he liked Binoche more):

http://www.nypress.com/21/14/film/ArmondWhite2.cfm

I've really been underwhelmed post-Flowers of Shanghai, save for the 'silent' chapter of 3x.

― Dr Morbius, Friday, 23 May 2008 15:00 (2 years ago) Permalink

4 weeks pass...

Godfrey Cheshire, whelmed:

Hou is a genius, it is said; therefore every film of his is a work of art. In this case, though I'm a longtime admirer and defender of the director, I must beg to differ. Hou's latest strikes me as a trifle, more perplexing than interesting, with inherent problems that are bound up with the fact that it's the first movie he has made outside of Asia....

So why would he go off to France and make a Juliette Binoche movie? There are two primary reasons, I think, and neither is particularly salutary....

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A259868

― Dr Morbius, Friday, 20 June 2008 21:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

Pokey in spots, and Binoche's dye job makes her look like she's auditioning to play Courtney Love, but I rather loved this, especially since the original film is oh-so-precious. Rewatching certain scenes between the three main characters in Binoche's apartments, I was struck by how wittily Hou pans subtly between the child and the adults; it's like Janes' What Maisie Knew -- this child barely cognizant of what these confused adults are up to; yet there's enough distance between his perceptions and ours that the two women's interactions are regarded quizzically, affectionately.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, 22 October 2008 03:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

i think one reason i love slow movies is that i sometimes something in the movie will send off on a 5 minute day dream and i wont have really missed anything plot wise. i kind of like it when a movie does not demand my attention.
― ryan (ryan), Monday, 21 March 2005 01:45 (5 years ago)

neglected slow cinema wisdom

― Earning your Masters in Library and Information Science is beautiful (schlump), Monday, 14 June 2010 13:32 (2 months ago) Permalink

hsh is super great

― nakhchivan, Monday, 14 June 2010 13:34 (2 months ago) Permalink

hhh :/

― nakhchivan, Monday, 14 June 2010 13:34 (2 months ago) Permalink

from his 00s stuff, millenium mambo was amazing (unjustly neglected), coffee time was very good and red balloon wd probably have been completely insufferable if entrusted to anyone else

― nakhchivan, Monday, 14 June 2010 13:39 (2 months ago) Permalink

― ♹♹ (dyao), Monday, 14 June 2010 13:42 (2 months ago) Permalink

red balloon playing here in two days - good or just not completely insufferable?

― ♹♹ (dyao), Monday, 14 June 2010 13:45 (2 months ago) Permalink

dyao successfully triangulates the asian minimalism / dixie proletkult demographics ^^

anything by hou is worth seeing, he is that great

red balloon is a rly weak idea for a movie but he does his best

― nakhchivan, Monday, 14 June 2010 13:49 (2 months ago) Permalink

"anything by hou is worth seeing, he is that great"

otm

City Of Sadness and The Puppetmaster are so perrfect.

― Zeno, Thursday, 17 June 2010 09:21 (2 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

juliette binoche is also wonderful in red balloon, but i agree the movie is really weak -- my fave hou would be a time to live and a time to die -- best $5 i ever spent on a chinatown dvd

― markholmes, Wednesday, 28 July 2010 02:59 (1 month ago) Permalink

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.