Film series: Neon gods 20 February – 5 May 2019

Taoist spells cast in video game arcades, horoscopes for high-stakes business deals, deities graffitied on Taipei underpasses: welcome to the Gallery’s film season Neon gods (20 February – 5 May 2019).

Presented in association with the exhibition Heaven and earth in Chinese art: treasures from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, this survey of Sinophone cinema features works by some of the most significant directors of the 20th century, including Hou Hsiao-hsien, Edward Yang, Ang Lee and Tsai Ming-liang.

In the midst of economic boom and rapid social change, a new wave of Taiwanese filmmakers revived the tradition of epic storytelling. From Homer’s Iliad to Chinese folk tales such as The journey to the west, this longue durée form told sagas of societies in transformation.

Rest assured, the majority of films in this season are not epic in length. Rather, they inhabit the epic as a style: multigenerational and labyrinthine. Edward Yang’s masterpiece Yi yi begins with a wedding, ends with a funeral, and runs the gamut of life in between. King Hu’s A touch of zen morphs into a supernatural ghost story, political thriller and psychedelic landmark of 1970s cinema.

Epics spin the interconnections between humanity, nature and the gods into arcs as dramatic as the aerial ballet of Crouching tiger, hidden dragon. In Tsai Ming-liang’s cult classic Rebels of the neon god, the main protagonist’s mother is convinced he’s the reincarnation of impish child deity Nezha.

In this season, the gods of modern cinema are not found on the temple altar. They cruise the neon-lit streets of nocturnal Taipei.

With a cast of rebels, action heroines and queer outsiders as our guides, join us on a journey through the best of Chinese-language cinema presented on imported 35mm prints.

Films

• 20, 24 February – Rebels of the neon god (director Tsai Ming-liang, 1992, 35mm)

• 27 February, 3 March – A summer at grandpa’s (director Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1984, 35mm)

• 6, 10 March – The end of the track (director Mou Tun-fei, 1970, 35mm-to-digital) 

• 13, 17 March – Terrorizers (director Edward Yang, 1986, 35mm) 

• 20, 24 March – Three times (director Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2005, 35mm) 

• 27, 31 March – The hole (director Tsai Ming-liang, 1998, 35mm) 

• 3, 7 April – Crouching tiger, hidden dragon (director Ang Lee, 2000, 35mm) 

• 10, 14 April – Eat drink man woman (director Ang Lee, 1994, 35mm) 

• 17, 21 April – Yi yi (director Edward Yang, 2000, 35mm) 

• 24, 28 April – A touch of zen (director King Hu, 1971, 35mm) 

• 1, 5 May – Small talk (director Huang Hui-Chen, 2016, digital)