Oct 01 2022
Goodbye, Dragon Inn

Goodbye, Dragon Inn

Presented by Harvard Film Archive at Harvard Film Archive

A decaying Taipei movie palace on its final night of business provides Tsai with one of his richest locations in this turn-of-the-millennium paean to the fading cinemagoing ritual. As King Hu’s wuxia classic Dragon Inn reverberates around the cavernous auditorium and the shadowy corridors that surround it, Tsai traces the wanderings of the screening’s few lovelorn attendees, all either cruising for a partner in the dark or pining for some succor from the screen itself. Dialogue is nearly nonexistent, but the film communicates an entire spectrum of longing through the inspired use of silence and duration, whereby even the most distant figures in Tsai’s expansive compositions can become objects of sympathy and comedy. Far more than a dewy-eyed love letter to the movies, the film offers a broader meditation on the impact of urban development on communal spaces, which gains an added resonance when considering the history of gay cruising in Taipei’s cinemas. As the projector creaks to a halt and the patrons wander off into a torrential rainstorm, Tsai offers an aching portrait of the eternal loneliness of outsiders doomed to live just out of pace with a changing world.

Admission Info

$10 / $8 students and seniors / Harvard students free

Phone: 617-496-3211

Email: bgravely@fas.harvard.edu

Dates & Times

2022/10/01 - 2022/10/01

Location Info

Harvard Film Archive

Harvard Film Archive Cinematheque, Cambridge, MA 02138

Parking Info

Although parking in Cambridge is difficult (most of the surrounding streets have restricted parking for Cambridge residents only), metered parking on Broadway and Harvard Streets, as well as the rest of Harvard Square, is free after 8pm. Film-goers are encouraged to use public transportation, particularly the MBTA Red Line.

Accessibility Info

This film is subtitled in English.