Hou Hsiao-hsien

[HinkyDinkyTruesmith]

As someone who has attended two of the screenings this week (I Walked with a Zombie and The Puppetmaster), both introduced by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, I think his presence contributed to the popularity of the screenings (as Zombie was, if not sold out, better attended than I was expecting, especially compared to the screenings of the Tod Browning films several weeks earlier). But HHH's probably very in vogue now because of Millennium Mambo, which has been very popular since Metrograph showed it, especially with the urban hipster crowd here.

[hearthesilence]

As someone who has attended two of the screenings this week (I Walked with a Zombie and The Puppetmaster), both introduced by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, I think his presence contributed to the popularity of the screenings (as Zombie was, if not sold out, better attended than I was expecting, especially compared to the screenings of the Tod Browning films several weeks earlier). But HHH's probably very in vogue now because of Millennium Mambo, which has been very popular since Metrograph showed it, especially with the urban hipster crowd here.

Forgot, Zombie actually gave away free passes to members via email, so that may have filled up that screening. (One of the perks of membership is every time they do a series, they set aside a lot of free member tickets for at least a couple of films - these usually seem to be the ones that are slow to sell. They do this during the NYFF too.)

Millennium Mambo is impressive, but tbh I think it's possibly the least of his run of 1989-2005 films - it's probably the easiest to digest because if you know absolutely nothing about Asia, much less Taiwan, it's possible you'll be completely lost with his other films. (I was surprised how many people I know weren't aware of Taiwan's connection to Japan.)

[Soothsayer]

Millennium Mambo is impressive, but tbh I think it's possibly the least of his run of 1989-2005 films - it's probably the easiest to digest because if you know absolutely nothing about Asia, much less Taiwan, it's possible you'll be completely lost with his other films. (I was surprised how many people I know weren't aware of Taiwan's connection to Japan.)

Daughter of the Nile is also quite accessible and the viewer doesn’t need a deep understanding of Taiwanese politics or culture to enjoy it.

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

So, Spectrum released a UHD of Millennium Mambo in France: https://store.potemkine.fr/dvd/37700155 ... iao-hsien/

Unfortunately, only French subs...

[barbarella satyricon]

Metrograph/KL's Millennium Mambo blu, Beaver-reviewed

[barbarella satyricon]

Linking to nicolas and Rupert Pupkin's comments in another thread on the Spectrum Films Millennium Mambo UHD+BD release. I don't usually visit that thread, but found and appreciated their posts when I did just earlier. Posting this here for easier access later or for anyone who's not in the know. (Please delete, mods, if not welcome posting practice.)

[barbarella satyricon]

Posted the above and then found, almost right after, the package from Spectrum in the mailbox. I'm not currently set up for UHD, but the blu ray itself was like seeing this film for the first time, after years of spinning it from files ripped from the ancient region-3 HK disc I own, the Palm Pictures one I don't. All that neon, the fluorescent lights, even the black light effects in the club scenes – everything looks amazingly lustrous, so vividly defined. It was almost like I was seeing blu ray for the first time too, it looked such a world apart from the dvds.

The film itself, I wouldn't call it a great one or anywhere near Hou's best, but that's not what necessarily makes a film a lifetime one, is it, one that travels with you through the big moves and relocations with the years? That's what this one's been for me, and it's probably set to become that for a whole lot more people with this restoration and rerelease. Yeah, too bad it won't be UHD, so sad it's not Criterion, but the KL blu is going for a pittance on preorders, so you can bet I already have my order in, if only for the English subs.

In lieu of too many more words and effusions, my own "Three Reasons"-style rundown: 1) Lee Ping-Bing's non-stop virtuoso cinematography, within a mise-en-scène that conveys both lived-in verisimilitude and heightened plastic beauty; 2) Shu Qi, already a superstar by then, doing an understated star turn in a de facto arthouse movie, carrying virtually every scene (lighting up a cig in virtually every one as well); 3) a transnational, consciousness-jumping vision and film rhythm that I will willfully continue to see as particular to the Y2K, pre-smartphone era – a noisy bar in Taipei, a snowy road in northern Japan, one simple cut.

I wrote words, I effused. Here's hoping for more release announcements for more and more Hou, always more Hou for the foreseeable future. 2023's already half done.

[barbarella satyricon]

Café Lumière is one I didn't take to nearly as strongly as Millennium Mambo when I finally did get around to seeing it, but a nice, shiny restoration of that now feels like something I'd be lining up and preordering for. The final shot of the trains is another one of Hou's signature closing views, like the snow-covered street in Millennium. The two would make for a lovely double bill.

[barbarella satyricon]

Still riding high on my first Hou on HD with Millennium Mambo. I never did pick up the Criterion Flowers of Shanghai as everything I saw of the restoration and transfer, whether better in motion or not, was so unlike what I remembered of a 35mm screening attended, admittedly, ages ago. And I'm usually not one to snark at the Tooze's prose, but had to balk at "glorious, dark, jade-soaked, image" for what looked more like secret-of-the-ooze green in so many of the caps. MoC's Daughter of the Nile, on the other hand, I really should get on.

I guess the two obvious holy grails are (and have always been) A City of Sadness and The Puppetmaster, and rightly so, but the key Hou film for me has for a long time been Good Men, Good Women. I see it as the exemplary representative text within the filmography (or at least within one section of it), positing, in its time-scrambled and form-fractured narrative, ways in which, say, Millennium Mambo and Flowers of Shanghai could be run together side-by-side, concurrently, woven in and out, one with the other, and how the thematic rhymes and repetitions across historical cycles would organically emerge in emotionally and philosophically cogent ways.

That's what Three Times was also aiming for, in perhaps an even more schematic way, though I think less successfully.

I remember reading somewhere (on these boards?) that Hou wasn't entirely satisfied with Good Men, Good Women, and that he was especially critical of Annie Shizuka Inoh's performance. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough, but interviews and other primary sources based on Hou's own words have been hard to come by, so if anyone has a lead, especially in relation to some of these less-discussed films also languishing in rights limbo, it would be most appreciated.

Even before the whole Sight & Sound thing blew up last year, I was already, for one reason or another, working at whittling down my top ten or twelve list, and Good Men, Good Women was making itself felt strongly enough that other more expected and obvious choices were effectively pushed out (WKW, Scorsese, Dreyer even?). So many home video dreams have come true in recent decades, previously inaccessible, unavailable, shoddy-looking, and/or academic institution-use titles receiving that shiny disc upgrade, that Hou's best films on HD (or any and all of them) will, personally, feel something like the end of a journey. Having seen what's possible with this release of Millennium Mambo, Good Men, Good Women feels like a tantalizing dream just this side of possible now?

There are enough knowledgeable people posting here that someone definitely in the loop might tell me that's definitely not happening, not in the foreseeable future. I'm still calling 2023 the Year of Hou, though, and even if that ends up being true, I guess fingers will have to remain crossed through 2024 and beyond for home video releases that'll hopefully be everything these films deserve.

[dadaistnun]

Just saw this on Twitter:

“Saw Hou Hsiao-hsien's THE TIME TO LIVE AND THE TIME TO DIE at London's @TheGardenCinema today. Great screening with a lovely, specially recorded intro by Tony Rayns.

Sorry to hear from that intro that Hou's health is failing him and he likely won't make another film.”

[hearthesilence]

Just saw this on Twitter:

“Saw Hou Hsiao-hsien's THE TIME TO LIVE AND THE TIME TO DIE at London's @TheGardenCinema today. Great screening with a lovely, specially recorded intro by Tony Rayns.

Sorry to hear from that intro that Hou's health is failing him and he likely won't make another film.”

I had no idea he was ill. Apparently there was a rumor going around about an early dementia diagnosis. On the other hand, when the restoration of A City of Sadness premiered in February of this year and the film’s cowriter Chu Tien-wen said Hou was unable to attend, due to health issues stemming from a severe case of COVID-19 the previous September, he also added that he was slowly recovering his strength and skipping the premiere under doctor's orders.

If this is it for Hou, it's a tremendous loss to cinema and all the more depressing given how the film industry treated him during the last decade of his career (financing only one film and keeping so much of his best work out-of-circulation).

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

There were reports in 2020 that Hou had been diagnosed with Parkinson's, which he never addressed himself but were quickly denied by Chu Tien-wen and Liao Ching-sung. He does have longstanding but unspecified gastrointestinal issues and missed a couple of events in 2019 (including the Taiwanese premiere of the Flowers of Shanghai restoration) due to a major flare-up. That would provide an alternate explanation for the marked weight loss that partially sparked the Parkinson's rumor.

[yoloswegmaster]

Indiewire has confirmed that he has dementia.

[hearthesilence]

Hou's family has issued a detailed statement in the wake of news spreading about Hou's retirement from filmmaking.

A Chinese to English translation of the family statement that was signed by Cao Baofeng, Hou’s wife, his son Isaac Hou and his daughter Bess Hou:

Our father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease a while ago, but it did not deter his passion for films as he continued to direct and produce his next film. More recently, his condition has worsened after a bout with COVID-19, and this has resulted in his retirement from the film industry.

While this is an unexpected development and disappointing news to all, we ask our father’s friends and fans not to despair. Before he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, he had often shared with us that his love for films has become purer.

Since recovery from COVID-19, he is now dedicating time to his family while recuperating with the same pureness and peace of mind. His company continues to be operational and we appreciate the kind notes of encouragement from all.

As our father has devoted his entire life to producing films, it was difficult for him to spare time and energy for the family. Despite the challenges, we are grateful that our father’s condition has allowed the family to spend time together and re-establish our love and devotion for one another. We ask everyone to kindly give our family space and peace, as this is much needed at this point of our father’s life.

Regrettably, the production of our father’s next film ‘On the Shulan River’ has discontinued due to his illness. Nevertheless, his reputation as a filmmaker has been cemented through numerous critically-acclaimed films in Taiwan and internationally through the years. His contribution to the world of cinema will not be forgotten, and his dedication and compassion toward film making will be fondly remembered by his friends and fans.

As we navigate this difficult time for our family, we again humbly ask for your kind respect for our privacy and extend our utmost gratitude for your support. No further comment will be issued at this time.

- Hou Fuyue, Hou Yunhua, Cao Baofeng

[tamingthetiger47]

Apologies, too many details to remember about Hou's films in general. I went through this thread again and tried to straighten out my memory. Just to have it all in one post, here's what people reported on The Puppetmaster when they had the touring retrospective in 2014/2015 plus what I reported in 2016 at MoMA:

23 Sep 2014

The print of The Puppetmaster was very nice, but not new I don't think. In any case, it is apparently the only English subtitled print in the world, according to [the retrospective's organizer] Richard Suchenski...It was the most difficult print to obtain in the entire series...

03 May 2015

I just got back from The Puppetmaster screening in Chicago. There was a pretty lengthy lecture beforehand, as well as a Q&A with Suchenski...he did emphasize how difficult it was to get this film screened. It's a personal favorite of his, and he held back the retrospective for a year and had to get Hou to intervene in order to show it. He couldn't comment too much on the rights issues, but did mention that from a preservationists standpoint, steps are being taken to ensure that this film will be protected for posterity even if it is unlikely that the rights will ever be sorted out.

Very excited that I got to see this, and despite the subpar picture quality I would encourage everybody to seek it out while it is showing. During the Q&A Suchenski made a comment that the physical film had the darkest print he had ever seen, and there's a special quality to the way a projector bulb opens it up, so it's well worth seeing this last remaining English subbed print.

I haven't seen the DVD beyond DVDBeaver caps, but Suchenski said it may be the worst DVD he's ever seen. It was pretty disappointing when he said home video rights are stonewalled, since this will likely be the only time I can see this film in decent quality. He mentioned that they tried to track down other subbed prints, but they all seem to have been destroyed in the last two decades. His comment about taking steps at preservation was in response to a question about whether the negative or other materials exist, so that was heartening.

Re: the rights, he said he couldn't get into specifics, but did say it was common for films released after the ending of Martial Law and relative opening of the island in the late 80s through the early 90s to have really tangled rights issues. He also stated that rights holders often don't have any interest in seeing films released. I had assumed that the copyright laws of the time were untested and full of holes, but organized crime taking advantage of newly opened markets could fit that description as well.

I also attended the Chicago screening of The Puppetmaster and want to reiterate the last point in Jindianajonz' post. I was very surprised to hear Professor Suchenski say that the print being shown is the only English-subtitled print currently in existence.

Was also at the Puppetmaster screening in Chicago this weekend. Richard Suchenski, who organized the retrospective and edited the book Michael mentions, spoke briefly about the issues concerning the circulation of the film. Although he understandably couldn't go into details, he did affirm that the film is tied up in a rights dispute that is unlikely to be resolved in the near future. The 20-year-old print screened at the Film Center is, per Suchenski, the only English-subtitled print in existence. He also said that the fuzzy transfer used on the out-of-print Winstar DVD, which is cropped to the Academy ratio, is the only digital transfer of The Puppetmaster he knows of. (And one reason he was unable to use frame grabs in the book.) The film's negative has been preserved, however, so if and when the rights issues are sorted out, new prints could be struck and a HD master could be made. But--sadly--don't hold your breath.

...the problem with setting up a screening is not only that there are so few prints, but that the rights have yet to be sorted out. Legally, you can't charge for a screening if you don't pay the rights holder, so it had to be billed as an educational event. Tickets for the Film Center event were for Suchenski's lecture, with the screening as a "free" bonus. This is not the sort of thing that is very repeatable.

In theory the film might be screened for a class, but you'd have to talk with Hou's company, who I believe are custodians of the extant prints. I imagine they would want to limit the number of screenings, since each time one of the few remaining prints is run through a projector, it runs a risk of irreparable damage.

My understanding was that the various rights holders were willing to allow free (limited) screenings of City of Sadness and Puppetmaster, but couldn't agree to any arrangement involving paid screenings.

That's weird... the Puppetmaster screening in Houston was definitely not free. Either they made a mistake, or we were technically paying $9 for the two-minute introduction by a UT professor.

That's weird... the Puppetmaster screening in Houston was definitely not free. Either they made a mistake, or we were technically paying $9 for the two-minute introduction by a UT professor.

It's the latter. The only thing they were able to finagle was a series of "educational screenings", which is why Suchenski gave a lecture with the film. Likewise, the upcoming showing of City of Sadness in Los Angeles accompanies a book signing by the lady who wrote the BFI Film Classics book.

26 Jun 2016

[For the MoMA screening], like the other films screened in 35mm this past week, it had the Bard logo, the print was fairly worn around the reel changes, and the blacks don't look quite as inky as they should, but the detail and the color still look quite good.

According to Richard Suchenski, and as discussed higher up in this thread, there's only one English-subtitled print of the film in existence, which dates to the 1990s. So it's highly likely we're talking about the very same print the rest of us saw last year, or a dupe of that print. (HHH's company has the film's negative, but can't do much with it until rights issues are clarified.)

FWIW, Apichatpong Weerasethakul was scheduled to give an intro to tonight's screening.

Did Suchenski say, or do you know, why the rights holders for these movies aren’t always interested in seeing them released?

[afilmcionado]

Does anyone know what is going on with the US/Europe rights for the City of Sadness restoration? I’m in Asia for a bit but I’m killing myself for having to miss all the remaining showings of the film

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

I fear the three-year embargo on video/streaming may keep it from getting wider distribution in the short term—theatrical runs are obviously important in and of themselves, but they're also a way to promote a forthcoming home release and that becomes less effective if there's a years-long window between the two. We know it's getting its Western festival premiere in April at the Udine Far East Fest (alongside The Puppetmaster), so I'm hoping we learn more after that.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Well, I have to thanks tenia for his wise advice otherwise I would not have pre-order Millenium Mambo - Spectrum UHD/BR title. If I have to vote for some Blu-Ray/UHD of the year, this one will be among by list. I'm French and I have been so disappointed by some French restoration recently that I tend to avoid everything which has been touched in my country.
I have a lot of HHH movies from various labels (MoC/Eureka, Criterion, etc...) and this is the best restoration which I have seen.

Which leads me to the question when you like Millenium Mambo and Shu Qui : is there any plan/hope that Spectrum could restore "Three Times"; this one is among my favorite (the third part can be look like a sequel from an alternate time of Millenium Mambo), but the first part of the movie is my favorite (and what an unforgettable amazing soundtrack).

Really sad news to read about HHH.