Overlooked 2004 treasure: "Goodbye, Dragon Inn"

Last updated on: September 14, 2012 at 11:33 am by Jeffrey Overstreet

Overlooked 2004 treasure: "Goodbye, Dragon Inn" 2012-09-14T11:33:28-06:00 Jeffrey Overstreet

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sometimes I wish I had the resources to travel around the world to the great film festivals. Heck, sometimes I wish I had the time and money to explore the international film festival that takes place in my own backyard! (I’m only going to one film in this year’s Seattle International Film Festival this year, and I’m not happy about it at all.)

Fortunately, I have friends who do travel to festivals, and I hear firsthand from them about the films I’m missing, films I’ll later look up on DVD.

Thus, I knew to be watching for Goodbye, Dragon Inn on DVD. And sure enough, it’s worth every quiet, haunting moment.

Tsai Ming-liang’s 81-minute mood piece is 2004’s quietest, most watchful film. And it rewards only the most patient viewers by quietly, secretively revealing a complicated web of stories and some surprises that will make the hair on your arms stand up.

If you’re not really watching, if you’re not really thinking through the details of what you see, you’re likely to think it’s just a boring bunch of footage taken in an old movie theatre.

But believe me, there’s a lot going on in that almost-empty theatre.

First of all, there’s the movie… King Hu’s 1966 martial arts film Dragon Inn . You see pieces of that film playing before the cavernous auditorium, but most of the time you just hear it in the background, sometimes just resonating through the walls… walls that sound like they’re bending and about to collapse. In fact, the whole building is groaning with vibrations, shudders, and echoes that just might come from ghosts. There’s a torrential rainstorm going on outside that never lets up, and you get the feeling it might be the rain that finishes off this old theatre.

Meanwhile, a limping ticket-stamper and custodian makes her labored way through the labyrinth of corridors and stairways, yearning for an encounter with the handsome projectionist who has other things on his mind.

A Japanese tourist is in the theatre for much more than the movie… he’s hoping to find a quick and easy homosexual connection, and with some of the suspicious characters lurking in the shadows, he just might.

There’s a young boy and his grandfather. There are others who seem half-interested in the show. And there are a dozen amusingly awkward encounters between patrons.

A lot of films have celebrated the power of movies. This one celebrates the whole experience of movie-going… the kind of joy that involves the architecture of the theatre, the sticky floors, the way people glance at each other for eating too noisily. But it’s also much more than that. It’s about loneliness, about our dreams and our disappointing realities, about being lost and yearning to be found.

So there I go, back to my Best of 2004 list, to revise it all over again.

Journal

Goodbye Dragon Inn

Tsai Ming-liang

Previous Post

May 20, 2005

"Don't Come Knockin'" - Wenders and Shephard together again.

Next Post

May 21, 2005 The Chicago Reader goes for the political angle on Star Wars

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Blog Bloggers on "Through a Screen Darkly" Browser Coming Soon Endorsements Fiction Books Film Forum Film Reviews Inspirations Interviews Journal Kindlings Muse Movie buzz Music Reviews Non-Fiction Books radio Reviewers on "Through a Screen Darkly" The Auralia Thread Through a Screen Darkly Through a Screen Darkly - Bonus Materials Top 10 (or 20 or 100) lists Uncategorized

Select a Month June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 July 2003 May 2003 March 2003 September 1999

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who stopped the sun from setting during a battle?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Samuel Moses Elijah Joshua