Bu san (2003)

Bu san: Directed by Ming-liang Tsai. With Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen, Kiyonobu Mitamura, Tien Miao. On a dark, wet night a historic and regal Chinese cinema sees its final film. Together with a small handful of souls they bid “Goodbye, Dragon Inn.”

“Tsai Ming Liangu0026#39;s recent piece u0026quot;Goodbye, Dragon Innu0026quot; (Bu San) is a film chock full of beautiful color and rich, textured moods. It features the characteristic pacing of Taiwanese film, and it is composed of shot upon remarkable shot of a crumbling movie theatre in its final days, playing the last runs of u0026quot;Dragon Gate Innu0026quot;, a martial art classic Dir. by King Hu. Some of the stark imagery lingers, and it is just the pure action of the actors (there is no dialogue in the film for the first 45 minutes) that makes the film a profound stylistic achievement. There are some appearances by the original actors of The Dragon Gate Inn film (Tien Miao, for one); and Tsai Ming Liangu0026#39;s favorite actor Lee-Kang Sheng shows up at the end as the film projectionist. Thereu0026#39;s also a fine performance by Chen Shiang-chyi, who plays the limping u0026quot;heroineu0026quot; of the film, if such a thing exists in this movie. A great film overall, and a cinematic work that tries to say a very heartfelt and melancholic u0026quot;goodbyeu0026quot; to not only u0026quot;Dragon Gate Innu0026quot;, but also to the old cultural and historical values that are perhaps beginning to fade in Taiwan.”