Good Bye Dragon Inn Movie Review:


This odd art film is an ode to the long-gone days of the cinema in Taiwan, told in an experimental style that's both fascinating and infuriating. We're at the vast Fu-Ho Grand Cinema, where violent Chinese sword epics seem to play on an endless reel while a very sparse audience watches. One young guy seems annoyed by everything around him--others eating loudly, smelly feet, people who sit too close in an empty theatre. Then he goes off to the toilets and into the back hallways to cruise aimlessly for a while. Others watch silently, barely containing their emotions or boredom. Meanwhile, the ticket lady limps around the corridors, taking food to the projectionist, cleaning the bathrooms and generally keeping an eye on what's going on. But at the end of the night it turns out that the cinema is closed. So was this the last night? Or were these ghosts trying to cling to something that's disappeared?

It doesn't really matter what the answer is, because the film does capture an ethereal sense of nostalgic longing for faded glory. You can tell that the dumpy cinema was once an imposing movie palace, even though it's now leaky and disgusting. Writer-director Tsai shoots in extremely long, static takes that go on several minutes after you expect a cut. This is usually quite maddening, as nothing happens on screen at all for extended stretches of time. (It could be cut down into a fantastic 15-minute short!) Even though there are only about 10 words of dialog in the entire film, it's dotted with wry humour and even a little suspense, as people encounter each other in the dark while grisly action flashes across the screen. There's a warm and meandering feeling to the film ... although it will be completely lost on non-cinephiles, who'll find this unbearably dull! And if the point is that the general public doesn't go to the movies anymore, maybe it's because this is the kind of ponderous film they'll have to endure if they do!

Rich Cline

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