Hou Hsiao-hsien

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#376 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:30 am

I was so happy to see Puppetmaster screened -- but sad to know I might never have another chance to see it again (as the DVD is not worth watching).

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#377 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:37 am

It’s very sad, though as bad as the DVD is, it’s the only HHH film I’ve seen that indicates genius

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#378 Post by jegharfangetmigenmyg » Tue Nov 30, 2021 12:48 pm

I cannot imagine subjecting myself to watch that film in cropped 4:3 format. Of course, there are all the painterly landscape scenes with action taking place in the entire 1.85:1 frame, but, more importantly, Hou's habit of shooting from one room through a doorway to another would make no sense visually, if huge parts of walls and door-openings were cropped. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a letterboxed VHS-recording from the French Arte channel, supposedly shown when it was still "legal". It had burned in French subtitles, and I had to sync the subtitles from the dvd on top of them. Obviously, the quality was VHS, but I could see the whole picture, and it actually had more shadow details than the washed out dvd.

Ironically, for all this work, I found it to be his most pedestrian, and least inspiring, film. A film where he takes his objectivity in storytelling game to new extremes, and I found it to be mostly an academic experience (I liked the fact that he let the narrator "speak out the action" between the segments, which, for the most part, had as little as possible, if any, action), not very involving, and I didn't really care for any of the characters. Maybe his most visually astounding and classical film, but far from the most interesting. Couldn't say I was surprised to learn that he improvised the script from the stories of Li Tien-lu, because it certainly is very rambling and not coherent, even more so than most Hous.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#379 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Nov 30, 2021 1:39 pm

jegharfangetmigenmyg - I actually was quite transported seeing Puppetmaster screened -- whereas I had felt it was less than thrilling when I watched it (butchered) on DVD. It is "rambling" -- but I didn't mind it. Now, whether watching a good quality release on DVD/Blu-ray would cause me to feel the same as seeing it actually screened (as a possibly one in a life time opportunity) -- who knows. All I can say is that seeing HHH films screened struck me even more powerfully than seeing them at home (and this included the ones I loved most on DVD).

therewillbeblus - Sorry to hear that HHH seems to leave you mostly "cold". Once I gave him a second chance (after my initial rather poor reaction to Goodbye South Goodbye on DVD), he became one of my top "modern" favorites. I love most of his films -- and like even his lesser films quite a bit. He certainly ranks as a "master" for me (is that equal to "genius"?)

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#380 Post by hearthesilence » Tue Nov 30, 2021 3:07 pm

Yeah, I'm kind of stunned by that dismissal because if anything The Puppetmaster (or Dream Life) was the MOST involving HHH film I've seen, in terms of the filmmaking and the subject matter. I've already posted about it before, but I will add that it's the first film that comes to mind when I think of one film that best depicts Taiwanese culture and its tumultuous history.

I think I can understand Michael's need for a second chance because Good Men, Good Women was the first time I saw any of HHH's work and I was completely lost, being completely green about Taiwanese history. You don't need to be a historian, but without knowing even the basics, I was mentally playing catch up the whole time to no avail. I think I simply read through an encyclopedia entry (not Wikipedia) before I caught City of Sadness and Puppetmaster, and it made an enormous difference. (I would grow to appreciate both enormously when I finally saw them projected - by then, I had a much better understanding of Taiwanese history, but more importantly I saw what the DVD transfers were losing, with the mastery of light and composition and the maximalist effect of the deceptively minimalist approach becoming all the more apparent.) Certainly a master in my book - I prefer using that term over "genius" since the latter suggests some kind of measurable brilliance when such a thing isn't quantifiable in creating art.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#381 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Nov 30, 2021 3:44 pm

To be clear, I went and finished off HHH’s filmography a couple years back and liked other films of his well enough (I even bought a few of the available blus) but nothing evoked a comprehension of the weighty accolades thrown his way. I actually liked Puppetmaster the least when I saw it many years ago- but my second watch, at the end of that recent binge, destroyed me. It’s one of those rare films that I can’t explain why I loved it, but it was a kind of spiritual experience. As soon as the DVD finished, I immediately restarted it, something I don’t know if I’ve ever done before or since. I wouldn’t be surprised if it made my top fifty when we get to the All-Time list
Last edited by therewillbeblus on Tue Nov 30, 2021 3:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#382 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Nov 30, 2021 3:45 pm

I've never felt such a huge gap between films I already loved on home viewing and my reaction on seeing the same films screened. I never could have imagined how much more powerful they would seem.

My problem with GSG wasn't the history -- but rather I just couldn't comprehend HHH's style. I had no idea what he was doing -- or why. Luckily, there were certain scenes (trains gliding through the countryside and little towns, for example) that I could not get out of my head. I was even more mystified by Tsai. Because giving HHH a second chance proved fruitful, I tried the same thing with Tsai. Alas, I disliked things even more. So, I just had to decide his style was incompatible with my tastes.

As to HHH again. I think Dust in the Wind is the film that made me fall in love with his work (as opposed to "appreciating" it) and Millennium Mambo kicked things up another notch. After that, I liked everything else I'd seen previously even more once I watched them again.

TWBB -- As I recall, I think I watched Millennium Mambo twice on two successive days when I first got the (beautiful) French DVD.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#383 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Nov 30, 2021 4:01 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:
Tue Nov 30, 2021 3:45 pm
TWBB -- As I recall, I think I watched Millennium Mambo twice on two successive days when I first got the (beautiful) French DVD.
I really like that film too! One of his best (I like City of Sadness like everyone, and several others I’d consider good to great). It just didn’t open my soul like his best film did

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#384 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Nov 30, 2021 4:19 pm

TWBB -- Glad you could get so much from the awful Puppetmaster DVD. I'll never re-watch that DVD because it would detract from my memories of the screening. (I really feel so fortunate to have gotten to go to almost all of the films shown at the HFA retrospective. Sadly I had to miss Good Men, Good Women, which I had very much wanted to see screened).

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#385 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Tue Nov 30, 2021 6:28 pm

There's a widescreen copy of The Puppetmaster on Youtube that based on the quality and the Chinese hardsubs probably comes from the VCD. There was a widescreen VHS in the UK and a laserdisc in Japan that almost certainly look better, but good luck finding them—WorldCat only lists one library in the whole of the UK with a copy of the VHS release.

While I hate to be a wet blanket about A City of Sadness, I was told the same thing about a possible restoration in 2018. If it does happen then that bodes well for The Puppetmaster, since they're owned by the same guy.
Michael Kerpan wrote:
Tue Nov 30, 2021 3:45 pm
My problem with GSG wasn't the history -- but rather I just couldn't comprehend HHH's style. I had no idea what he was doing -- or why.
Chu T'ien-wen once mentioned that Francis Ford Coppola (who was head of the jury when the film premiered at Cannes) was interviewed by a Taiwanese media outlet and said something along the lines of "I know a lot of people don't understand what this movie is trying to do, but I think I did." Unfortunately Chu didn't recall if he said what that thing was. I'm much less confident about my understanding of the film than Coppola, but it's never affected my love for it, a lot of which stems precisely from the apparent aimlessness (I don't think I've seen any other film that so perfectly evokes the highs and lows of the full-time hustler). I also find it very funny, and the audacity of the last act just about cracks me up whenever I think about it.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#386 Post by cowboydan » Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:15 am

It appears that Spectrum Films FR will be releasing Millennium Mambo at some point.https://twitter.com/SpectrumAsie/status ... 1428071429. It'll surely be doing the rounds theatrically before we see a stateside BD. Hopefully it'll get picked up by Janus or maybe Film Movement.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#387 Post by Michael Kerpan » Wed Jan 26, 2022 11:01 am

I just hope any restoration of Millennium Mambo looks at least as good as the beautiful French DVD from long ago (still one of my favorite DVD releases ever -- in terms of visual impact).

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#388 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Wed Jan 26, 2022 2:21 pm

Speaking of restorations, I was looking at the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute's list of completed restorations (which is quite handy, specifying whether the restoration was done in-house and, if not, who handled it—usually it's Ritrovata, but they've also worked a lot with IMAGICA in Japan and the Taiwanese company Ting Fong). Anyway the reason I mention this is because there's an odd gap between the 2018 and 2019 restorations with the notice "Information for this film has not been released." This could be wishful thinking on my part, but given that this was around the same time I was informed that a restoration of City of Sadness was in the offing, I wonder if it was actually done a few years back and they're still trying to iron out the rights.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#389 Post by senseabove » Thu Jan 27, 2022 4:52 pm

cowboydan wrote:
Wed Jan 26, 2022 4:15 am
It appears that Spectrum Films FR will be releasing Millennium Mambo at some point.https://twitter.com/SpectrumAsie/status ... 1428071429. It'll surely be doing the rounds theatrically before we see a stateside BD. Hopefully it'll get picked up by Janus or maybe Film Movement.
Not only that, but it looks like it'll be a 4k UHD!

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#390 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Fri Jan 28, 2022 3:50 pm

I did some more digging around the TFAI website and I'd completely missed that they have a section for films they've scanned but didn't restore. Among the many in 2020 were Goodbye South, Goodbye and Good Men, Good Women. They also have a 2018 listing for A City of Sadness, and among the many other films they've scanned is Yang's Mahjong. This doesn't necessarily portend anything for imminent releases, since the films scanned by the TFAI (as opposed to their full restorations) aren't usually ones they have the rights to distribute or act as a sales agent for, and the fact that the City of Sadness scan hasn't been screened anywhere nearly four years on is proof enough of this. But at least there are recent digital scans available for whenever the rights get sorted out.

(Also, the TFAI has gone back and done restorations for some of the films they've scanned, so this doesn't rule out restorations for these films either.)

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#391 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Thu Feb 24, 2022 10:32 pm

A long-overdue update on Shulan River, for which Hou plans to start scouting locations next month. He's apparently working on another project with Chang Chen—perhaps the historical drama about the Taiwanese Communist Party he's spoken of in the past—but at least back in 2020 Chang was also attached to Shulan River.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#392 Post by dadaistnun » Tue Apr 12, 2022 3:58 pm

Opening scene of Millennium Mambo in 4K.

Caveats:
1. I don't know anything about the account posting this, if it has any connection to Spectrum Films or not.
2. I don't have the eye for this that many of you do. Is it really 4K? Don't know, but it looks wayyyyyy better than the copy of the film I've seen.
3. I can be very gullible, so keep that in mind in reference to points 1 & 2 above.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#393 Post by hearthesilence » Tue Apr 12, 2022 4:01 pm

It looks more like a dated HD transfer up-res'd to 4K. Still much better than a standard def DVD, but no, not true 4K and a fresh transfer would probably look better as well.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#394 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Tue Apr 12, 2022 8:37 pm

It's an upscale. Check out the uploader's other videos—there's a bunch of 4K upscales of stuff that has never existed in 4K, like the shot-in-SD broadcast of Hitchcock receiving the Irving Thalberg Award. There's also an 8K upscale of a scene from A City of Sadness, which is something I didn't even know Youtube supported.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#395 Post by ryannichols7 » Mon Jul 25, 2022 6:10 pm

this got buried in the recent film restorations thread but fits well here:
afilmcionado wrote:
Wed Jul 20, 2022 3:16 am
The 46th HKIFF just announced six restorations

Obviously, we already knew about the Infernal Affairs trilogy and Boat People that were acquired by Janus. Interestingly, Millennium Mambo and Suzhou River are listed alongside them. I wonder if they’re available/have been snapped up by Janus as well?
we're closer to seeing the Millennium Mambo restoration on disc. Spectrum hasn't given any updates on their disc at all which is a bit concerning, but considering it is playing another festival that's a good sign. I wonder if it can make an appearance at Toronto or NYFF?

considering Boat People and Infernal Affairs are both Janus properties now and Hou already worked with Criterion on Flowers of Shanghai, I feel like chances are pretty good here as to where the film ends up. ditto Suzhou River which absolutely seems like a Criterion title. these would be such massive rescues, the Palm Pictures DVD is brutal stuff!

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#396 Post by yoloswegmaster » Fri Aug 19, 2022 9:05 am

Spectrum to release Millennium Mambo early next year on 4K UHD.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#397 Post by andyli » Thu Sep 15, 2022 11:56 am

TFAI just premiered a digital restoration of A City of Sadness for its 33th anniversary and will include it in an upcoming retrospective of Taiwan New Wave. From what I can gather the restoration made use of the original camera negative with mono sound track. Great material for this film is finally out there to serve global festivals and new blu-ray editions.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#398 Post by The Fanciful Norwegian » Fri Sep 16, 2022 11:49 am

Pretty sure this is the 2018 scan I mentioned earlier in this thread (the TFAI distinguishes "scans" from "restorations," though based on my 35mm viewings the elements are in good enough shape that it doesn't really need the full treatment). It also apparently wasn't open to the public, and it's not actually part of the Taiwan New Cinema series. (That said, the series still includes tons of rarities, like Yang's The Winter of 1905, Fred Tan's UCLA graduation project Lovers, and the Taiwanese-language version of Strawman.) Until it actually plays at an international festival I wouldn't get too excited, and even then I'm not sure it would augur anything for an actual release—the problem with the film hasn't been so much an inability to screen it (the TFAI, for example, did so a couple of years ago as part of a program marking its 40th anniversary, from a 35mm print) but some kind of block on commercial distribution. The indications are that this one of the many digital scans the TFAI has produced that aren't available for licensing or distribution; it's not mentioned at all in their 2022 catalog, either in the main body or in the list of upcoming restorations at the end. Goodbye South, Goodbye and Good Men, Good Women were also scanned by the TFAI in 2020, but I assume we're still waiting for Shochiku to do something with those.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#399 Post by andyli » Fri Sep 16, 2022 8:25 pm

There's an interview (in Mandarin) with TFAI chairman Tony Lan detailing the process. It seems they have scanned the original negative and regraded it to approximate the original theatrical experience. Technically not a restoration and TFAI did designate "digital version" instead "digitally restored version" to it. Lan, however, casually threw the word "restoration" around in the interview and stressed the minimalist approach given the good condition of the original material. So, as you said, it's probably a situation where a full-on restoration was not called for.

What gets my hopes up for future releases is actually the involvement of the producer Chiu Fu-sheng, who supplied the original negative. And there's hints of possible commercial releases for this digital version in the press.

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Re: Hou Hsiao-hsien

#400 Post by jegharfangetmigenmyg » Sat Sep 17, 2022 2:49 am

Very exciting news re. A City of Sadness although I think the current dvd release is one of the better SD Hous, but the image is very soft. Hopefully an HD restoration will bring out more details, and especially shadow detail. Fingers crossed for a physical release. I wondered, though, I thought this film was caught in Chiu Fu-sheng limbo together with The Puppetmaster, so if this has been restored he might be open in the future to cooperate on a long overdue restoration of The Puppetmaster, no? If this happens, there'll only be one film left of Hou's work that currently looks atrocious on all physical releases: Good Men, Good Women. I think it's one of the most overlooked Hou's. The bar / karaoke long take scene where he flms "through the wall" is one the most masterful and magical ones in all of his filmography. On another note, I almost can't imagine how astounding Millenium Mambo will look on UHD. The prologue and especially epilogue of that film rank among my all-time favorites. MM on 4K would also be a no-brainer for Criteiron, if possible, wouldn't it?

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