Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by tinear (A) on August 16, 2006 at 06:48:49

Tsai Ming-Liang deserves credit for an excellent title (actually, he didn't name the American title but he agreed with it).
But, there is much more to praise!
Two young, disaffected men are on a collision course. One lives at home with a doting, superstitious mother who truly believes he is a reincarnated god and a father who largely is absent as he drives long hours in his cab. His only diversion seems to be cruising the city on his scooter.
The other is a seemingly goal-less petty criminal who spends his days and nights cruising about on his motorcycle or spending the money in video gaming shops he has stolen from telephones .
A traffic incident leads to the drama in the film, a loose tale of revenge, but this is really a conceit for a detailed view of modern city life and societies' planned future for its youth.
Liang's camera work is similar to Antonioni's: scenes go on for long periods of time with minimal camera movement and editing is minimal. In this film, it works well because much action fills the frame. In a later film of Liang's, his style has become more austere and movement and action has been cut to a minimum while the static scenes go on much longer. "What Time is it There?," because of this, was hard for me to watch. Now that I have more of a "feel" for Liang, I shall revisit "Time."
But "Rebels" is easy to watch. Like other young man films such as "Rebel Without a Cause" or "The Wild Ones," this film really is about the society in which boys are becoming men. Unlike the Hollywood films, Liang's effort doesn't have actor ego to contend with and the naturalness and the believability give it more impact.
The film score is terrific.