Author: Jeff Reichert, Erik Syngle
Translator: Issac
Proofreading: Yi Ersan
Source: "Reverse Shot" (December 13, 2004)
Reporter: After the Harvard Film Archives screened "Not Away", you asked the audience at the beginning of the Q&A session if you liked this movie, which made me feel very generous. This is one of the few times in my memory that I have seen filmmakers interact with the audience so directly.
"Not Away"
Cai Mingliang : Actually, I don't know how to do this kind of thing, but this screening is too close to the opening of the Boston Film Festival, so I want to know what the audience thinks. When I ask questions, I will also tell the audience clearly that even if they don’t like it, don’t tell others.
Reporter: Many people seem to be full of enthusiasm for "Don't Disappear", which makes me curious - the interesting things in your movie are often hard-won, and this movie is undoubtedly the most difficult to control. It seems to be the most "still". We all know that you will use long shots as a prerequisite for humor. So, does this approach come from your professional background in drama, or is it summarized after a period of practice?
Cai Mingliang: Someone asked me a very similar question at Harvard yesterday, and I will give you the same answer: When I can only use one shot, I will not use the second one.
But if you look closely, I often move the camera gently while following the character. It really has to do with the theatrical training I've had - there's no camera there, dealing with real space and time issues, and I've also tried to bring those issues into my filmmaking.
"Not Away"
Reporter: Because the camera in your work is usually stationary, the shots taken are usually very long and often only focus on one small action. So, what does a typical "Tsai Mingliang script" look like?
Cai Mingliang: Writing scripts is what I least like to do, but I have to go through this process to a certain extent in order to provide something for my team. Honestly, I don't really believe them. Usually, actors don’t see the script, we rely more on discussion. What I offer usually looks more like poetry—a description of a certain emotion, a description of the effect to be achieved, and perhaps a description of the key plot.
There is a script award in Taiwan, I have never won it because they said my script is too simple. The script is often used to provide a structure for the upcoming film. I spent most of my time thinking about the reasons why I made a film, which should have been spent in the script writing process. For me, it’s more important to shoot the location and working with the actors to make sure they understand the effect I want to achieve.
"Not Spread"
Reporter: Your movies are all very interesting, except " River "...
Cai Mingliang: I think "River" is very interesting.
"River"
Reporter: OK, okay, maybe it's just that the ending is not that funny. But do you think your movie is humorous enough? Especially when you take your rigorous aesthetic into account? This humor seems to be attributed to Buster Keaton and his heirs, such as Tati.
Cai Mingliang: Well, there are always people who can "understand" my humor, and some people who can't. As far as I understand, this is true for audiences in most places. But when you mention Buster Keaton, you're right—to me, he's one of the greatest comedians.
Today, I don’t know if comedy still exists. I think the best comedians are always those with the least expressions, which is why I don't find Jim Carrey particularly interesting, and it's why I try to keep my actors without expressions.The situations in which the character is always in make things humorous.
"River"
Reporter: Very correct. Many American comedy now centers on language and conversation, but your movies are all about space, situations, and scenes.
Cai Mingliang: Yes. People have asked my movies about sadness and humor before, and I don't think I'm going to do "funny" or "sad" movies on purpose, but I feel I need these elements because what I really want to do is reconstruct the story, not tell the story.
In order to get the audience interested, I need to introduce something, so I choose to amplify the details of the situation, which usually brings humor. Happiness and sadness are actually two aspects of the same thing, so the usually ridiculous situation makes it look interesting, but the core of this moment is actually really sad.
"Not Away"
Reporter: You said you are not interested in storytelling, but storytelling is usually the only goal of film production. So what is your goal?
Cai Mingliang: The movies we see today are all telling stories. But my question is: Is the movie really just for storytelling? Can't the movie have other functions? This question reminds me of my experience watching movies. I rarely remember the story of a movie, I usually only remember the moment that touched me.
Take Bresson 's " Musheit " as an example - after Musheit was raped, she had to go home to feed her sister. She brought a bottle of milk, but she couldn't find a match to heat the milk, so she put the bottle in her coat. This very simple action really touched me. My movies certainly have a story element, but I focus more on my daily life and lifestyle. There are no stories in our own lives, and every day is full of repetition.
"Musheit"
Today's movies tell stories in two hours as if they have to complete tasks, so the film is full of various instructions and indicators that prompt the progress of the story completion. The audience is used to it. I think movies can be more than that.
I think my movie story can be told in two sentences. Just like in the movie "The Overpass is Missing": Li Kangsheng and Chen Xiangqi walk past each other but don't know each other. That's it. I tried to remove the dramatic elements of the story to hide it. Movies are different from reality, but by removing that artificial dramatic element, I believe I pulled them closer.
"The Overpass is gone"
Reporter: Regarding "Not Away", the most obvious question is: Why do we say "goodbye" to " Longmen Inn " by King Quan ? (Translator's note: The English title of "The Unrest" is Goodbye Dragon Inn) Why do we say goodbye to that cinema and that bathroom? Later, these two elements appeared in "What time does your side" again.
Cai Mingliang: Actually, the Chinese title of "Not Away" is not like this at all. The word "no separation" is difficult to translate into English. It means something comes together and no longer separates, so it is actually the antonym of "goodbye". Goodbye has two different meanings—one case you might see that person again, and another case you might not. In this film, we will not see this theater again because it is closed.
"未分类"
"Longmen Inn" is that for me, Hu Jinquan's films truly represent the golden age of Taiwanese films. It represents the quality of those films made in the sixties. That's why at the beginning of my movie, the entire cast of Hu Jinquan's film will be shown.
"Longmen Inn"
This is the way I pay tribute to the filmmakers at that time, and it is also the way I show them to new audiences.I never thought about making "Not Away" - it wasn't the movie I planned to make. But when I was looking for a shooting location for "What time does it take to you", I discovered this theater in a small town outside Taipei.
"Not Away"
I met the boss of this theater and took some clips there. A few months later, I met this boss again and he told me he was going to close the theater. There are few viewers nowadays, and this place has become a place for gay men to make friends. In a moment of impulse - I rented this theater for six months. I don't know what I'm going to do, maybe just make a short film, but I want to try to capture something in the movie.
I think it is this theater calling me to make this movie. That theater reminds me of my experience growing up in Malaysia . At that time, there were seven or eight such theaters that disappeared one by one in the past few years. Before filming "The Unbreakable", I often dreamed of the theaters in Malaysia, as if these childhood scenes did not allow me to leave.
"Not Away"
Reporter: It's very interesting, because "superstition" seems to be a recurring element in your movie. In "Not Away", you also mentioned the discussion about ghosts. Are you inclined to avoid the black cat you encounter on the road, walk under the ladder, or are you trying to comment on the reconciliation of the traditional and modern conflicts you see in Taiwanese society in a humorous way?
Cai Mingliang: I am superstitious, I believe in the existence of ghosts, which is why I mention ghosts in the movies, and there are so many ancient things. In "The Unrest", there are many traditional elements that may not be seen immediately.
For example, the longevity peach given to Li Kangsheng by Chen Xiangqi will be used as a birthday gift and a tribute to ancestors. She has this thing that shows that she comes from a very conservative family. There is an romance novel on Chen Xiangqi's desk. This is the first romance novel I read in the fifth grade. It was written by a very popular novelist at that time.
"Not Away"
When I accidentally saw this version in Hong Kong, I thought I would buy it anyway and decided to include it in the movie footage. Including these elements is my privilege as a director. The incorporation of ancient elements into the film is actually related to the drama because they look very unreal. They have a nature that spans time, from the human realm to the non-human realm.
No matter when you enter the cinema, you are actively giving up your own "real" time. They provide a sense of mystery to the film.
Reporter: Interestingly, Chen Xiangqi gave Li Kangsheng the element of expressing respect and tradition, and Li Kangsheng is a movie projectionist. In name, he is the only one responsible for everything in "The Unrest". He also often plays the lead role in your other movies.
Cai Mingliang: I like the thing about longevity, because in my opinion, the shape of this round bread is very similar to the heart. But, a year before the film, I was giving a guest speech in Thailand, and I saw an animation student there using it to make a model of a female breast. At the time, he put the longevity peach in the rice cooker, just like you see in the movie, so it appeared again a year later.
"Not Away"
Reporter: To what extent can you say that the arrangement of "Not Away" is to cooperate with certain scenes in "Longmen Inn"? From some perspectives, the dialogue on the screen makes up for the shortcomings of dialogue in the theater. Or are we actually fooled by you as audiences because there is no consistency in these two films at all?
Cai Mingliang: These two movies are very close. In "Longmen Inn", public space is a focus, and Hu Jinquan gave extra attention to the inn and temples; of course, the theater is also a public space, so the two echo each other.In "Longmen Inn", a group of knights want to protect a boy, and the most dangerous place they have to pass through is Longmen Inn.
So, when Chen Xiangqi and the female swordsman looked at each other across the screen, what I wanted to show is that movies can become a force of mutual encouragement. This is urging Chen Xiangqi to continue. Her task was very difficult - to pass through the long corridor to send longevity peaches. The Japanese characters in my movie are also exploring. He entered an unknown, dangerous space, like those swordsmen.
Moreover, the two old actors who have appeared in both movies, Shi Jun and Miao Tian , play very interesting roles. They are all objective observers, but they are also stared at the same time. The audience does not necessarily know that they are also looking at themselves when they were young - in the eyes of the audience, it may be just two old people watching the young swordsman, which is a contest between youth and aging. Movies can make something eternal; it freezes youth, but it is also heading for decline. At the same time, the things we photographed are slowly dying, or in other words, the things we photographed are no longer there.
"Longmen Inn"
Reporter: "Not Away" and the way to watch "Not Away" seem very nostalgic and is becoming increasingly rare. More and more old theaters are closed or divided into smaller and smaller cinemas. Are you worried that at some point we will never go to the movies together again? At that time, we would stay on the sofa at home, which seemed to be the trend.
Cai Mingliang: People in our era have the experience of watching movies together, but the viewing experience today is very different from DVDs, satellite TV programs, etc. We can see these major changes that have taken place over the past decade, and you will find how quickly things are developing and how quickly they are happening.
But we have no way back: it is useless to worry or be sad about changing things. But it’s also hard to tell the younger generation about the past and vice versa. Those who are clear-headed and unaffected by political structures can see how these changes occur and how we are voluntarily controlled by a handful of politicians and businessmen. Nowadays, fewer and fewer people can realize this situation.
What makes old movies different from today's movies is the values and messages they convey. Even if you compare good movies from 20 years ago with movies from today, you will find that they are different. Changes in values are worrying. Today’s films convey no message except for the shortcuts to success. The character doesn't need to work very hard to succeed.
Just like in " Law Beauty ", the actress gave a speech on stage, and everyone in the audience applauded. Today's movies are all about "applause", while old movies are more humane. The whole world has been influenced by Hollywood , and some emerging national cinemas always want to imitate Hollywood - such as Thailand and South Korea. They will feel that if their route is original and unique, they will not make money.
"The Beautiful Beauty of Law"
This has become a deeply rooted concept. When I attend symposiums and talk about these issues, people look at me like I am from outer space. I really think that people in the movies are going to do something personalized, local, and unique.
Reporter: There are many concerns about tradition in the film and how traditional culture has been eroded. But the end sign of the video says the theater is only temporarily closed. Is this an optimistic hint? Will the theater still open?
Cai Mingliang: In fact, the true meaning of "temporary closing" in Chinese is equivalent to "permanent closing". Chinese people don’t like to say bad things, so they always use euphemisms. The movie is not just about the theater, it also shows a way to express feelings or love. Chen Xiangqi's approach in the film is too old-fashioned, and her way of expressing love is very subtle and unique.
She devoted herself, just like the old theater accepts everyone, I think both qualities are disappearing. We can’t stop this change, but at least by making movies of this type we can document them in some way.
"Not Away"
Reporter: I think the most representative image in your movie is Li Kangsheng wearing white underwear; but in "The Overpass is gone", he changed to black, which made me a little frustrated. Does this indicate the future of his character?
Cai Mingliang: The matter of him wearing black underwear is not as important as the matter of him wearing a doctor's coat. "The Overpass Is Away" is about disappearance and change, not limited to the physical environment, but also includes the change of identity and the loss of self. The doctor's white robe is a very common symbol in Japanese pornography, and it always represents a feeling of being about to lose oneself. My constant attention to my characters allowed me to track their lives.
"The Overpass is gone"
My next movie " A cloud by the sky " can still summarize the whole story in two sentences, but it tells the changing conditions of the two characters Li Kangsheng and Chen Xiangqi. This is the first movie to get in touch with the two.
"A Cloud by the Horizon"
In the movie, they will fall in love, which is very interesting because this film is an erotic song and dance film. Li Kangsheng's first shot in the movie is that he appears in a doctor's robe. We can even call this movie a silent movie because there is only one line of dialogue in it.
