Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)
Genre : Drama, Comedy
Runtime : 1H 22M
Director : Tsai Ming-liang
Synopsis
On a dark and rainy night, a historic and regal Taipei cinema sees its final film: 1967 martial arts feature "Dragon Inn". As the film plays, the lives of the theater's various employees and patrons intersect, and two ghostly actors arrive to mourn the passing of an era.
Christine is a pasty-faced teen in a windbreaker and ill-fitting striped shirt who walks endlessly from one friend's house to another, delivering heroin while their parents are absent.
Natan tells the remarkable story of Bernard Natan, a Romanian immigrant who came to Paris in 1905 and was involved almost immediately with French cinema. He took control of the Pathe film group in the late 1920s and went on to produce epic films such as Les Miserables. But Natan has become largely written out of French film history for various different reasons. I will not go into details here as the story is an excellent one, suffice to say that his ethnicity and subsequent rumours plagued Natan almost from the start of his career. His ‘comeuppance’ for his alleged transgressions is at the heart of this devastating documentary.
After finishing his MA in Anthropology, Hugo spends his days giving his brain a rest from the endless reading of texts by unknown authors. His only company is Luisa, the cleaning lady, with whom he plays cat and mouse. To escape the sleep of reason – which creates monsters -, Hugo exercises his lyrical vein by writing, with his friend Manuel, songs about their neighbourhood. The quiet dilettantism of our protagonist is shaken by Catarina, a young and beautiful translator who’s starting her professional life as a freelancer. Hugo is hooked and wavers. High above, a kestrel falcon hovers. It’s not the only bird of prey that can do it.
Katja is a young retiree. At 24, she is living in a circle of solitude, spending her days walking her dog and looking out of the window.
The rough-hewn boss of a lumber crew courts trouble when he steps in to protect the youngest member of his team from an abusive father.
What some filmmakers do when they are not making movies: they waste time; they eat and get drunk; they take a walk after watching a movie; they fall in love; they are alone or with friends, building future memories for a future movie.
A young woman wandering around meets a young man going to a casting call for a pornographic film.
The Parkers, reclusive people who cling to ancient customs, find their secret lives threatened when a torrential downpour and the death of the family matriarch forces daughters Iris and Rose to assume special responsibilities.
Summertime. A cruising spot for men, tucked away on the shores of a lake. Franck falls in love with Michel, an attractive, potent and lethally dangerous man. Franck knows this but wants to live out his passion anyway.
A montage of scenes from vintage Chinese films—most of which were considered lost until some nitrate prints were discovered in a California warehouse in the 1990s—set to the song "Hua yang de nian hua" ("Age of Bloom") by Zhou Xuan.
"Ni Muy Muy, Ni Tan Tan, Simplemente, Tin Tan. Tin Tan was one of the greatest comdedian-actors in the history of Mexican Cinema. He began his film career during the early years of what became the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. Throughout the majority of his movies he plays the character of a pachuco; the Chicano/Mexicano in zoot suit, throwing out the tirili phrases and words, and jammin the jitty-bug. With the style and the slang down to a tee, he was picked up in Cd. Juarez Chihuahua by an acting troupe. Touring extensively through-out Mexico with the troupe landed him in Mexico City with film contracts. It was in those films that Tin Tan exposed the image of the pachuco, which Mexican Youth adopted. From the desert border-towns of Juarez y El Paso the style took off in various parts of the country, most notably in Mexico City
In 1967, Cuban documentary filmmaker Octavio Cortazar followed a projectionist whose mission was to show moving pictures to rural communities for the first time. Cortazar’s short film documents one audience’s response to its first film: Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times.
Carol Corliss, a beautiful movie star so insecure about her celebrity that she goes around in disguise, meets a rugged outdoorsman who is unaffected by her star status.
In this animated short featuring the Bear Family, Papa Bear attempts to fix a leaky roof.
An older woman gets involved with her young neighbor.
Two men bond as one recovers from an attack and the other deals with the impending death of his grandmother.
Hong Kong cinemas had a wide range of glamorous female stars during the golden age of the 60's and 70's. The series will take the audience on a sentimental journey to the good old days and once again look at the expansive epic costume dramas and huangmei operas in which actresses played both the male and female roles. Rare interviews with Sir Run Run Shaw, stars Ivy Ling Po, Shaw Yin Yin, Tanny Tie Ni and Cheng Pei Pei are also featured.
Raimund Gregorius, having saved a beautiful Portuguese woman from leaping to her death, stumbles upon a mesmerizing book by a Portuguese author, which compels him to suddenly abandon the boring life he has led for years and to embark on an enthralling adventure. In search of the author, Gregorius acts as detective, pulling together pieces of a puzzle that involves political and emotional intrigue and the highest possible stakes. His voyage is one that transcends time and space, delving into the realms of history, medicine and love, all in search of true meaning to his life.
A collection of short films made by the Lumiere brothers, a team of pioneering filmmakers in turn-of-the-century France, narrated by Bertrand Tavernier.
Can a burned out, has been- never was 80's rocker still rock today in the modern music world?
Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between miniDV footage as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn't.
Ip Man's peaceful life in Foshan changes after Gong Yutian seeks an heir for his family in Southern China. Ip Man then meets Gong Er who challenges him for the sake of regaining her family's honor. After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man moves to Hong Kong and struggles to provide for his family. In the mean time, Gong Er chooses the path of vengeance after her father was killed by Ma San.
Pietro is a boy from the city. Bruno is the last child of a forgotten mountain village. Over the years Bruno remains faithful to his mountain, while Pietro is the one who comes and goes. Their encounters introduce them to love and loss, reminding them of their origins, letting their destinies unfold, as Pietro and Bruno discover what it means to be true friends for life.
