Tsai Ming-liang
Encyclopedia
Tsai Ming-liang (born October 27, 1957) is one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

s of Taiwanese Cinema
Cinema of Taiwan
The history of Chinese-language cinema has three separate threads of development: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of Mainland China and Cinema of Taiwan . Taiwanese cinema grew up outside of the Hong Kong mainstream and the censorship of the People's Republic of China.Taiwanese cinema is deeply rooted...

, along with earlier contemporaries such as Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...

 and Edward Yang
Edward Yang
Edward Yang , along with Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Tsai Ming Liang, was one of the leading filmmakers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese Cinema. He won the Best Director Award at Cannes for his 2000 film Yi Yi .-Biography:...

. His films have been acclaimed worldwide and have won numerous film festival awards.

Early life

Tsai was born in Malaysia and spent his first 20 years of his life in Kuching
Kuching
Kuching , officially the City of Kuching, and formerly the City of Sarawak, is the capital and most populous city of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is the largest city on the island of Borneo, and the fourth largest city in Malaysia....

, Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...

, after which he moved to Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...

, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

. This, he says, had "a huge impact on [his] mind and psyche," perhaps later mirrored in his films. "Even today," says Tsai, "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."

He graduated from the Drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

 and Cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 Department of the Chinese Culture University
Chinese Culture University
Chinese Culture University is a private, Taiwanese university located on Yang Ming Mountain in the Shilin District of Taipei, Taiwan. CCU was established in 1962 and is one of the largest universities in Taiwan with an enrollment of about 32,000 students...

 of Taiwan in 1982 and worked as a theatrical
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 producer
Theatrical producer
A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...

, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...

, and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 director in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

.

Career

Tsai's film honours include a Golden Lion (best picture) for Vive L'Amour
Vive L'Amour
Vive L'Amour is a 1994 Taiwanese New Wave film by Tsai Ming-liang. It is a slow-paced film with sparse dialogue about urban alienation, centering on three people who unknowingly share an apartment in Taipei.-Plot:...

at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...

 in 1994; the Silver Bear/Special Jury Prize for The River
The River (1997 film)
The River is a 1997 Taiwanese film directed by Tsai Ming-liang and starring Lee Kang-sheng, Miao Tien, and Lu Yi-ching. The plot centers on a family who has to deal with the son's neck pain...

at the 1997 Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...

; the FIPRESCI
FIPRESCI
The International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...

 award for The Hole
The Hole (1998 film)
The Hole is a 1998 drama-musical film directed by Tsai Ming-liang. It stars Yang Kuei-Mei and Lee Kang-sheng.-Plot:A strange disease hits Taiwan just before the turn of the new millennium...

at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival
1998 Cannes Film Festival
The 51st Cannes Film Festival was held on May 13-24, 1998. The Palme d'Or went to the Greek film Mia aioniotita kai mia mera by Theo Angelopoulos.- Jury :*Martin Scorsese *Alain Corneau *Chiara Mastroianni...

; and the Alfred Bauer Award and Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Achievement for The Wayward Cloud
The Wayward Cloud
The Wayward Cloud is a 2005 film directed by Tsai Ming-liang. The cast includes Lee Kang-sheng and Chen Shiang-chyi. The film was Taiwan's official entry for the 78th Academy Awards in the foreign-language category...

at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...

.

All of his feature films have starred Taiwanese actor Lee Kang-sheng
Lee Kang-sheng
Lee Kang-sheng is a Taiwanese actor, film director, and screenwriter. He has appeared in all of Tsai Ming-liang's feature films. Lee's directorial efforts include The Missing in 2003 and Help Me Eros in 2007.-Career:...

.

The Malaysian Censorship Board on 4 March 2007 decided to ban Tsai's latest film shot in Malaysia, I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, based on 18 counts of incidents shown in the film depicting the country "in a bad light" for cultural, ethical, and racial reasons. However, they later allowed the film to be screened in the country after Tsai agreed to censor parts of the film according to the requirements of the Censorship Board.

In 2003, he was voted by UK newspaper The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

as #18 of the 40 best directors in the world.

Features

  • Rebels of the Neon God
    Rebels of the Neon God
    Rebels of the Neon God is a 1992 Taiwanese film by Tsai Ming-liang. It is his first full-length film. It tells two stories of Taipei youth. One details alienated buxiban student Hsiao Kang and his troubled interactions with his family...

    (1992)
  • Vive l'Amour
    Vive L'Amour
    Vive L'Amour is a 1994 Taiwanese New Wave film by Tsai Ming-liang. It is a slow-paced film with sparse dialogue about urban alienation, centering on three people who unknowingly share an apartment in Taipei.-Plot:...

    (1994)
  • The River
    The River (1997 film)
    The River is a 1997 Taiwanese film directed by Tsai Ming-liang and starring Lee Kang-sheng, Miao Tien, and Lu Yi-ching. The plot centers on a family who has to deal with the son's neck pain...

    (1997)
  • The Hole
    The Hole (1998 film)
    The Hole is a 1998 drama-musical film directed by Tsai Ming-liang. It stars Yang Kuei-Mei and Lee Kang-sheng.-Plot:A strange disease hits Taiwan just before the turn of the new millennium...

    (1998)
  • What Time Is It There?
    What Time Is It There?
    What Time Is It There? is a 2001 film directed by Tsai Ming-liang. It stars Lee Kang-sheng, Chen Shiang-chyi, and Lu Yi-Ching.-Plot:The film tells two parallel stories, one about the life of a street vendor following the death of his father; the other about a woman he meets briefly as she heads...

    (2001)
  • Goodbye, Dragon Inn
    Goodbye, Dragon Inn
    Goodbye, Dragon Inn is a 2003 Taiwanese film directed by Tsai Ming-liang about the last feature at a historic Taipei cinema.-Plot:...

    (2003)
  • The Wayward Cloud
    The Wayward Cloud
    The Wayward Cloud is a 2005 film directed by Tsai Ming-liang. The cast includes Lee Kang-sheng and Chen Shiang-chyi. The film was Taiwan's official entry for the 78th Academy Awards in the foreign-language category...

    (2005)
  • I Don't Want to Sleep Alone
    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...

    (2006)
  • Face
    Face (2009 film)
    Face is a 2009 French film directed by Tsai Ming-liang. It was nominated for the Golden Palm at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Fanny Ardant as La productrice et la reine Hérodias* Laetitia Casta as La star et Salomé...

    (2009)

Shorts and segments

  • A Conversation with God (2001)
  • The Skywalk Is Gone
    The Skywalk Is Gone
    The Skywalk is Gone is a 2002 Taiwanese short film directed by Tsai Ming-liang and starring Chen Shiang-chyi and Lee Kang-sheng.-Plot:Shiang-chyi has returned to Taipei from her trip to Paris...

    (2002)
  • Welcome to São Paulo (2004) - "Aquarium" segment
  • To Each His Own Cinema
    To Each His Own Cinema
    To Each His Own Cinema is a 2007 French anthology film commissioned for the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival. The film is a collection of 34 short films, each 3 minutes in length, by 36 acclaimed directors...

    (2007) - "It's a Dream"

Telefilms

  • Endless Love (1989)
  • The Happy Weaver (1989)
  • Far Away (1989)
  • All Corners of the World (1989)
  • Li Hsiang's Love Line (1990)
  • My Name is Mary (1990)
  • Ah-Hsiung's First Love (1990)
  • Give Me a Home (1991)
  • Boys (1991)
  • Hsio Yueh's Dowry (1991)
  • My New Friends (1995)

External links

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