Great movies by Taiwanese directors including Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, Ang Lee and Tsai Ming-liang feature in the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ newest free film series, Neon Gods.
Designed to complement the AGNSW’s exhibition Heaven and Earth in Chinese Art: Treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, the series is an excellent opportunity to see some of the greatest works of Sinophone cinema on a big screen, and for free.
Ruby Arrowsmith-Todd, who programs the gallery’s free movie program, says that the films reflect the exhibition’s themes of humanity and the gods in the context of a modern metropolis. “Artworks in the exhibition are looking at the harmony between the celestial and the earthly, whereas films in this series are looking at the rupture of harmony in the interrelations of humans and supernatural forces in the cities,” she says. “That accounts for the dynamic cinematic storytelling you find in these films.”
The series gets its name from Rebels of the Neon God, the 1992 film from Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang that portrays a young man’s disaffection in the neon glow of Taipei at night. “It’s just an amazing time capsule of ’90s Taipei, a Rebel Without a Cause story with youth in double denim running around on motorbikes,” says Arrowsmith-Todd.
Edward Yang’s 2000 epic Yi Yi is another highlight. The story of three generations of a middle-class Taipei family, it famously begins with a wedding and ends with a funeral, spanning a wealth of human experience in between. There are also movies on the program by Taiwan’s most famous directing export, Ang Lee. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is the revered 2000 wuxia (martial arts) film starring Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi that crossed over into the mainstream with its sheer style and beauty. Eat Drink Man Woman is Lee’s popular 1994 drama of food and family in which a widower cooks lavish Sunday dinners for his three unmarried daughters, who consider the weekly ritual an ordeal.
Looking further back, The End of the Track is a 1970 film by Mou Tun-fei getting its belated Australian premiere. Dealing with the friendship of two young teens in a rural seaside setting, it was completely against the grain of Taiwanese cinema of the era. “It’s an early queer film that was controversial at the time and was banned,” says Arrowsmith-Todd.
Another lost classic getting a showing is A Touch of Zen, an influential 1971 kung fu epic about a fugitive noblewoman fleeing a corrupt eunuch. “It’s an amazing film and a real touchstone for the wuxia genre. It’s an absolutely astonishing visual experience on the big screen.”
The films screen every Wednesday and Sunday until May 1. Tickets are available outside the Domain Theatre from one hour before each screening, and you’d best arrive early to avoid missing out. To see what’s screening when, click on the Dates and Times tab above. (Don't forget to select the relevant month from the drop-down menu.)
Says Arrowsmith-Todd: “It’s really hard to get to see classic Chinese cinema, so I’m really proud of showcasing it here at the gallery, and all on beautiful film prints that we bring in.”
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