Tsai Ming-liang was another filmmaker I’d seen discussed and wanted to learn more about. Rebels Of The Neon God (1992) is an attractive title in the English translation and the opening image of a phone booth interior, neon flashing on its surfaces, rain drops from outside, is incredibly stylish. What I think is appealing about Ming-liang’s work here (part of the Second New Wave of Taiwanese Cinema) is that it stands at a middle point between moments of high style, particularly in the repeated visual motif of the young characters riding their motorcycles towards the camera as Huang Shu-jun’s moody electronic bass is heard on the soundtrack, and documentary realism. This doesn’t feel like just style for style’s sake. We also get a sense of the alienation and despondency of urban living, particularly when one character gets home and finds the rain has flooded their apartment through faulty pipes. Even though Ah Tze (Chen Chao-jung) lies back on his bed, smoking a cigarette and looking cool, when he throws the butt away, we later see it floating in the apartment water. Ah Tze is a petty thief who breaks into phone boxes for the coins and robs video game arcades when they are closed, alongside his friend Ah Ping (Jen Chang-bin). The other narrative focus is Hsiao Kang (Lee Khang-sheng) who lives at home with his taxi driver father (Miao Tien) and his religious mother (Lu Yi-ching). As a student, Kang sits bored in overcrowded class rooms and eventually withdraws his tutition to wander aimlessly. He also starts to follow Ah Tze after a chance meeting where he breaks his father’s taxi side mirror in a road rage incident. Meanwhile, Ah Tze starts hanging out with Ah Kuei (Wang Yu-wen), a one night stand of his brother’s (the brothers share the watery apartment). There is a languid pace where we observe these characters hanging out or wandering the streets. From arcades to mall restaurants to hotel rooms, the film captures their youthful boredom, which seems filled with possibilities (and visual signifiers of escaping through entertainment) but also seems boxed in and limited. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Rebels Of The Neon God, other than I heard it was slow paced and stylish, which it is – but it also surprises with the intersections of the characters and the gradual articulation of their desires and anxieties. Anyway, I’ve heard that this is Ming-liang’s more mainstream or conventional film, and that he pushes it further into slow cinema with his later work, which I am keen to explore. Rented it from iTunes. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 