Goodbye, Dragon Inn - Engels ondertiteld + Introduction & discussion
This slow cinema highlight by Tsai Ming-Liang, about the last hours of an old cinema in Taipei, is perhaps the most beautiful serenade to the magic of cinema ever.
A Japanese tourist walks into an old, almost ruined cinema to shelter from a heavy downpour. At the end of the evening, the cinema will close its doors. The last screening to take place is King Hu's 1967 martial-arts classic DRAGON INN. The few attendees are more interested in each other than in the film. Each of them is haunted by memories and desires evoked by the cinema itself.
The backstory of the building in which the film is set further fuels the mystery of GOODBYE, DRAGON INN. Tsai Ming-Liang once shot a short film there. The manager then informed the Taiwanese director that unless Tsai wanted to take over the movie theatre, he intended to close the place permanently. Tsai thanked him for that, but he did decide to take over the property's lease for a year to perhaps do something with the haunted building. The result is this unforgettable exercise in patience: a wistful reminder of what cinema can mean as a place and as an art form.
Prior to the screening of GOODBYE, DRAGON INN there will be an introduction by film students of United World College Maastricht. After the screening the students will discuss the film.
Schedule:
18.45 - Doors open
19.00 - Start introduction
19.30 - Start film
21.15 - Start discussion
22.00 - Estimated ending time