Documentaries

Na ri xiawu

Afternoon
Tsai Ming-liang
Taiwan 2015
137 min
V'15

The shared filmography of Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang and actor Lee Kang-sheng represents one of the great collaborations in cinema history. An extremely personal film from this most personal of filmmakers, AFTERNOON traverses the breadth and depth of the two friends' creative relationship over the course of a single wide-ranging conversation. Throughout AFTERNOON, the camera remains fixed on the same perfectly composed image of Tsai and Lee seated in a vast room, a large window behind each of them, abundant foliage creeping in. Though only fifty-seven, Tsai speaks of his growing suspicion that he may be dying. He claims that he’s lost interest in his romantic life and that if anything keeps him working behind the camera, it’s his inexhaustible fascination with filming Lee, the one person he cannot bear to do without. Lee, for his part, is more reticent and far less melancholic. He describes himself as a man of few desires, though he still marvels at the ways that working with Tsai have transformed his life utterly.
Candid, informative, and ultimately very touching, AFTERNOON offers viewers countless insights into the nature and complexity of artistic alliance. This is a very special, openhearted film, a gift to cinephiles – and to anyone who just loves a good conversation. (Giovanna Fulvi)

Credits
  • Lee Kang-sheng
  • Tsai Ming-liang
  • Lai Tian-jian
  • Ho Hsiang-ling
  • Lei Zhen-qing
Homegreen Films

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