Berlinale: Programme

Film File

Panorama 40

Ching shao nien na cha

Rebels of the Neon God

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Introverted Hsiao Kang feels cooped up at home. A high school drop-out, he spends his days killing time. He has no friends to speak of. When petty criminal Ah-Tze turns up on his motorcycle and damages Hsiao Kang’s father’s taxi, Hsiao Kang begins to stalk him and his girlfriend with a mixture of doggedness and fascination. Ah-Tze’s motorcycle becomes an obsession. Following him, Hsiao Kang is drawn deeper and deeper into a world of neon-lit gambling dens and dark motel rooms in downtown Taipei.
In his breathtaking early work, Tsai Ming-liang utilises all the elements that characterise his films to this day: water pouring down from the sky or gushing from a blocked kitchen drain, deserted places, urban lawlessness, speechlessness, subtle humour and Lee Kang-sheng, his leading actor, whom he discovered on the street for this film and with whom he has collaborated in almost all his subsequent works. The result is a hypnotic, visually stunning universe traversed with violence and passion by these young rebels engaged in a search for emotional stability.

by
Tsai Ming-Liang

Taiwan 1992

Mandarin, Taiwanese

106’ · Colour · 2K DCP

With

Chen Chao-jung (Ah-Tze)
Lee Kang-sheng (Hsiao Kang)
Wang Yu-wen (Ah Kui)
Jen Chang-pin (Ah Ping)
Miao Tien (Hsiao Kang's Father)
Lu Hsiao-lin (Hsiao Kang's Mother)

Crew

Written and directed by
Tsaï Ming-liang
Cinematography
Liao Pen-jung
Editing
Wang Chyi-yang
Sound
Hu Ting-i
Music
Huang Shu-chun
Production Design
Lee Pao-ling
Line Producer
Jiang Feng-chyi, Heng Sui-je
Producer
Hsu Li-kong

Biography

Tsai Ming-Liang

Born in Kuching, Malaysia in 1957. He won the Golden Lion at Venice in 1994 for Vive l’amour. His films screened in the Berlinale in 1993, 1995, 1997 and 2014, with The River winning a Silver Bear in 1997. His 2009 film Visage was co-produced by the Louvre in Paris, while Stray Dogs won the Grand Prize of the Jury at Venice. He has also presented his video installations at the Venice and Shanghai biennales and is a playwright and theatre director. His work has featured in art festivals in Brussels, Vienna and Taipei.

Filmography (selection)

1992 Rebels of the Neon God; Panorama · Ching shao nien na cha (Rebels of the Neon God) 1994 Vive l'amour · Vive l'amour 1997 The River · The River; Competition 1998 The Hole · The Hole 2001 What Time Is It There? · What Time Is It There? 2002 The Skywalk Is Gone · The Skywalk Is Gone 2003 Goodbye, Dragon Inn · Goodbye, Dragon Inn 2005 The Wayward Cloud · The Wayward Cloud; Competition 2006 I Don't Want to Sleep Alone · I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone 2009 Face · Visage 2013 Stray Dogs · Stray Dogs 2014 Xi you (Journey to the West) · Xi You (Journey To The West); Panorama 2015 Afternoon · Afternoon 2017 The Deserted 2018 Your Face · Your Face 2019 Rizi (Days)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020

© Chang Jhong-Yuan

Produced by

Central Motion Picture Corp.

World sales

Central Motion Picture Corp.

© Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin

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