The Cinematheque revisits the aching urban loneliness of Taiwanese auteur Tsai Ming-liang's Vive l'amour
New restoration celebrates the striking cinematography of a Taipei story as sad as it is sexually charged
The Cinematheque presents Vive l’amour on April 10, 8:40 pm, April 14 at 6:30 pm, and April 18 at 8:40 pm
IN 1994, MALAYSIAN-BORN, TAIWANESE auteur Tsai Ming-liang burst onto the world stage with Vive l’amour, the strikingly shot ode to loneliness and love that took the Golden Lion at the 51st Venice International Film Festival.
The Cinematheque is revisiting the landmark work, in a gorgeous new restoration that will remind film fans of why he’s a leading figure in the Taiwanese New Wave.
The wryly titled work follows three characters who unknowingly share a vacant Taipei apartment. Realtor May Lin (the stunning Yang Kuei-mei) brings her lover Ah-jung (Chen Chao-jung) to an empty unit she’s trying to sell, one that’s secretly occupied by a suicidal salesman (Lee Kang-sheng) who sells spots for cremation urns. It’s bathed in sex, sadness, and a subtly absurd sense of comedy.
The film is set largely within an apartment and the cinematography widens its emptiness to heighten the theme of isolation. Taipei has never looked so surreal and unforgiving.
But the film is perhaps most notable for its first, dialogue-free 20 minutes or so. Not to mention the erotic power of a simple watermelon.
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