Tsai Ming-liang (; born 27 October 1957) is a Malaysian-Taiwanese filmmaker. Tsai has written and directed 11
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
s, many
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
s, and
television film
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
s. He is one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film directors of
Taiwanese cinema. His films have been acclaimed worldwide and have won numerous awards at festivals. In 1994, Tsai won the ''
Golden Lion
The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguis ...
'' at the
51st Venice International Film Festival
The 51st annual Venice International Film Festival was held on 1 September to 12 September, 1994.
Jury
The following people comprised the 1994 jury:
*David Lynch (head of jury)
*Olivier Assayas
* Margherita Buy
*Gaston Kaboré
* Nagisa Oshima
* ...
for the film ''
Vive L'Amour''.
Early life
Tsai was born in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
, is of
Chinese descent and spent his first 20 years in
Kuching
Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River at the southwest tip of the state of Sar ...
,
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...
, after which he moved to
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...
, Taiwan. This, he said, had "a huge impact on
ismind and psyche". "Even today", Tsai has said, "I feel I belong neither to Taiwan nor to Malaysia. In a sense, I can go anywhere I want and fit in, but I never feel that sense of belonging."
Tsai graduated from the Drama and Cinema Department of the
Chinese Culture University
The Chinese Culture University (CCU; ) is a private Taiwanese university located in Yangmingshan in Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan. CCU was established in 1962 and is one of the largest universities in Taiwan with an enrollment of about 32,00 ...
of Taiwan in 1982 and worked as a theatrical producer, screenwriter, and television director in Hong Kong. From 1989 to 1991, he directed several telefilms. One of these, ''Boys'', starred his muse,
Lee Kang-sheng.
Career
1992–1998
Tsai's first feature film was ''
Rebels of the Neon God'' (1992). A film about troubled youth in Taipei, it starred Lee as the character Hsiao-Kang. Lee went on to appear in all of Tsai's feature films through 2019. Tsai's second feature, ''
Vive L'Amour'' (1994), is about three people who unknowingly share an apartment. The film is slow-paced, has little dialogue, and is about alienation; all of these became Tsai's trademarks. ''Vive L'Amour'' was critically acclaimed and won the
Golden Horse Awards
The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is u ...
for best picture and best director.
Tsai's next film was ''
The River'' (1997), in which a family has to deal with the son's neck pain. The family is similar to one that appears in ''Rebels of the Neon God'' and is played by the same three actors. ''
The Hole'' (1998) is about two neighbors in an apartment. It features several musical numbers.
1999–2009
In Tsai's next film, ''
What Time Is It There?'' (2001), a man and a woman meet in Taipei before the woman travels to Paris. This was Tsai's first film to star
Chen Shiang-chyi, who starred in his next few films alongside Lee. ''
Goodbye, Dragon Inn
''Goodbye, Dragon Inn'' () is a 2003 Taiwanese comedy-drama slow cinema film written and directed by Tsai Ming-liang about a movie theater about to close down and its final screening of the 1967 wuxia film ''Dragon Inn''.
Plot
During the last 9 ...
'' (2003) is about people inside an old cinema that is closing down. For this film, Tsai included even longer shots and fewer lines of dialogue than in previous films, a trend that continued in his later work. ''
The Wayward Cloud
''The Wayward Cloud'' is a 2005 Taiwanese film directed by Tsai Ming-liang and starring Lee Kang-sheng and Chen Shiang-chyi.
Plot
There is a water shortage in Taiwan, and watermelons are abundant. Television programs teach various water-savin ...
'' (2005) is a sequel to ''What Time Is It There?'' in which Hsiao-Kang and Shiang-chyi meet again and start a relationship while Hsiao-Kang works as a pornographic film actor. This film, like ''The Hole'', features several musical numbers.
Tsai's next film, ''
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone
''I Don't Want to Sleep Alone'' is a 2006 Malaysian-Taiwanese romantic drama film written and directed by Tsai Ming-liang. Lee Kang-sheng stars in a dual role as a brain-dead patient and as an injured homeless man. The film also stars Norman ...
'' (2006), was his first set in Malaysia and is about two different characters, both played by Lee. In 2007, the Malaysian Censorship Board banned the film based on incidents shown depicting the country "in a bad light" for cultural, ethical, and racial reasons, but later allowed it to be screened in the country after Tsai agreed to censor parts of the film according to the board's requirements. Tsai's next film, ''
Face
The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...
'' (2009), is about a Taiwanese director who travels to France to shoot a film.
2010–present
Tsai's next feature film was ''
Stray Dogs
A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of w ...
'' (2013), about a homeless family.
Most of Tsai's output in the 2010s was dedicated to his exhibition films, in particular the ''Walker'' series (2012-22), the subject of which was a monk played by Lee who travels by walking slowly, usually surrounded by a busy background.
In 2020, Tsai released
''Days'', which competed for the Golden Bear at the Berlinale film festival.
Honours
Tsai's honours include a
Golden Lion
The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguis ...
(best picture) for ''
Vive L'Amour'' at the
51st Venice International Film Festival
The 51st annual Venice International Film Festival was held on 1 September to 12 September, 1994.
Jury
The following people comprised the 1994 jury:
*David Lynch (head of jury)
*Olivier Assayas
* Margherita Buy
*Gaston Kaboré
* Nagisa Oshima
* ...
; the
Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize for ''The River'' at the
47th Berlin International Film Festival
The 47th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 February 1997. The Golden Bear was awarded to Canadian-American film '' The People vs. Larry Flynt'' directed by Miloš Forman. The retrospective dedicated to Austrian fi ...
;
the
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...
award for ''The Hole'' at the
1998 Cannes Film Festival;
and the
Alfred Bauer Prize and Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Achievement for ''The Wayward Cloud'' at the
55th Berlin International Film Festival
The 55th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 10–20, 2005. '' Man to Man'' by Régis Wargnier served as opening night film. The festival closed with '' Kinsey'' by Bill Condon. The Golden Bear was awarded to South Af ...
; the
Grand Jury Prize
A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...
at the
70th Venice International Film Festival for ''
Stray Dogs
A free-ranging dog is a dog that is not confined to a yard or house. Free-ranging dogs include street dogs, village dogs, stray dogs, feral dogs, etc., and may be owned or unowned. The global dog population is estimated to be 900 million, of w ...
''. In 1995, he was a member of the jury at the
45th Berlin International Film Festival.
In 2003, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' voted Tsai No. 18 of the 40 best directors in the world. In 2014, he was named an officer of the
Order of Arts and Letters by the government of France.
Filmography
Feature films
"Walker" series
Other exhibition works
Segments
Documentaries
Telefilms
Casting
Tsai frequently recasts actors he has worked with on previous films:
References
External links
*
Tsai Ming-liang at Strictly Film SchoolAV Club interviewAsia Pacific Arts interviewTsai Ming-liang on Tsai Ming-liang at Asia SocietyWalking with Tsai Ming-liang and Lee Kang-sheng
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsai, Ming-Liang
1957 births
Living people
Chinese Culture University alumni
Malaysian people of Chinese descent
Malaysian film directors
Taiwanese film directors
LGBT film directors
Gay men
People from Jieyang
People from Kuching
Malaysian emigrants to Taiwan
Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Directors of Golden Lion winners
LGBT television directors