Celebrated Taiwanese director Edward Yang‘s penultimate feature is a deceptively simple and straightforward affair. “Mahjong” poses as an over-the-top, soap opera-esque tale full of petty criminals, blackmail, sentimental manipulation and unrequited love. But it also offers a bittersweet chronicle of life, love, greed and economic opportunism in the booming, bustling Taipei of the late 1990s.
Mahjong is screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival
The film follows a group of rowdy young men who share the same apartment while ripping off other people for a living – and almost, it seems, for a hobby. Their leader is Red Fish (Tsung Sheng Tang), an enterprising young hustler who sees the world as one huge scamming opportunity with only the capitalist sky for a limit. His father is a fugitive businessman and con man who has made a fortune out of Taiwan’s roaring economy, and Red Fish has assimilated to his...
Mahjong is screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival
The film follows a group of rowdy young men who share the same apartment while ripping off other people for a living – and almost, it seems, for a hobby. Their leader is Red Fish (Tsung Sheng Tang), an enterprising young hustler who sees the world as one huge scamming opportunity with only the capitalist sky for a limit. His father is a fugitive businessman and con man who has made a fortune out of Taiwan’s roaring economy, and Red Fish has assimilated to his...
- 11/7/2024
- by Mehdi Achouche
- AsianMoviePulse
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Film at Lincoln Center
The massive Edward Yang retrospective, New York’s first in a dozen years, has its final weekend with A Brighter Summer Day, Yi Yi, and new restorations of A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong.
Roxy Cinema
Claire Donato presents Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me on 35mm and Preminger’s Bonjour Tristesse, while The Canyons screens on Saturday and Saturday.
IFC Center
Céline and Julie Go Boating and Casablanca and Alphaville have runs; Donnie Darko, Black Christmas, Once and Future Queen, and Goldfinger have late showings.
Museum of Modern Art
The comprehensive Ennio Morricone retrospective comes to a close with The Untouchables and 1900.
Film Forum
A Leon Ischai retrospective begins while The Third Man continues a 75th-anniversary 35mm run; Days of Heaven (read our interview with Brooke Adams) plays on Sunday with 101 Dalmations.
The post NYC Weekend Watch: Mahjong,...
Film at Lincoln Center
The massive Edward Yang retrospective, New York’s first in a dozen years, has its final weekend with A Brighter Summer Day, Yi Yi, and new restorations of A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong.
Roxy Cinema
Claire Donato presents Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me on 35mm and Preminger’s Bonjour Tristesse, while The Canyons screens on Saturday and Saturday.
IFC Center
Céline and Julie Go Boating and Casablanca and Alphaville have runs; Donnie Darko, Black Christmas, Once and Future Queen, and Goldfinger have late showings.
Museum of Modern Art
The comprehensive Ennio Morricone retrospective comes to a close with The Untouchables and 1900.
Film Forum
A Leon Ischai retrospective begins while The Third Man continues a 75th-anniversary 35mm run; Days of Heaven (read our interview with Brooke Adams) plays on Sunday with 101 Dalmations.
The post NYC Weekend Watch: Mahjong,...
- 1/5/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Film at Lincoln Center
A massive Edward Yang retrospective, New York’s first in a dozen years, continues with A Brighter Summer Day, Yi Yi, and new restorations of A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong.
Roxy Cinema
A 35mm print of Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and “City Dudes” screen this Saturday.
Museum of the Moving Image
A Roy Andersson retrospective continues with his flagship films and a lesser-seen work; the Todd Haynes series winds down; The Wicker Man plays on Saturday and Sunday.
Film Forum
The Third Man begins a 75th-anniversary 35mm run while Days of Heaven (read our interview with Brooke Adams) continues in 4K.
Museum of Modern Art
The comprehensive Ennio Morricone retrospective continues.
IFC Center
Casablanca and Alphaville have runs; The Muppets Take Manhattan plays early, while Black Christmas, Revenge of the Sith, and Last Crusade have late showings.
The post NYC Weekend Watch: Yi Yi,...
A massive Edward Yang retrospective, New York’s first in a dozen years, continues with A Brighter Summer Day, Yi Yi, and new restorations of A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong.
Roxy Cinema
A 35mm print of Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and “City Dudes” screen this Saturday.
Museum of the Moving Image
A Roy Andersson retrospective continues with his flagship films and a lesser-seen work; the Todd Haynes series winds down; The Wicker Man plays on Saturday and Sunday.
Film Forum
The Third Man begins a 75th-anniversary 35mm run while Days of Heaven (read our interview with Brooke Adams) continues in 4K.
Museum of Modern Art
The comprehensive Ennio Morricone retrospective continues.
IFC Center
Casablanca and Alphaville have runs; The Muppets Take Manhattan plays early, while Black Christmas, Revenge of the Sith, and Last Crusade have late showings.
The post NYC Weekend Watch: Yi Yi,...
- 12/29/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
What splits the fine line between desire and expectations? Is it a thing you can see? Is it a thing you can film?
Film at Lincoln Center’s new retrospective supposes that if any of those questions have answers, they might reside in the cinema of Edward Yang. Moving from “A Rational Mind”––the title of their 2011 retrospective of Yang’s work––to “Desire/Expectations” reframes those questions to be more diffuse, less singular. A rational mind could answer in the affirmative or negative; a slash indicates that desire and expectations may occupy the same terrain simultaneously.
“A rational mind” is also, perhaps, an accusation a Yang character could lob at another, especially in A Confucian Confusion (1994), a workplace farce that subjects a “culture company” in 1990s Taipei to the contradictions of Confucian teachings. In turn (or simultaneously), the film interrogates Confucian-influenced, consumer-friendly spaces––like 1990s Taipei––to rethink old-world molds of tradition and expectation.
Film at Lincoln Center’s new retrospective supposes that if any of those questions have answers, they might reside in the cinema of Edward Yang. Moving from “A Rational Mind”––the title of their 2011 retrospective of Yang’s work––to “Desire/Expectations” reframes those questions to be more diffuse, less singular. A rational mind could answer in the affirmative or negative; a slash indicates that desire and expectations may occupy the same terrain simultaneously.
“A rational mind” is also, perhaps, an accusation a Yang character could lob at another, especially in A Confucian Confusion (1994), a workplace farce that subjects a “culture company” in 1990s Taipei to the contradictions of Confucian teachings. In turn (or simultaneously), the film interrogates Confucian-influenced, consumer-friendly spaces––like 1990s Taipei––to rethink old-world molds of tradition and expectation.
- 12/29/2023
- by Frank Falisi
- The Film Stage
Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2023, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.
The greatest year in cinema since the monumental offerings of 2007––a transformative year that set the seeds for this very site to come into existence––2023 offered a resounding affirmative that indeed the medium is alive and well: auteurs flexing what they do best, newcomers providing a hopeful voice for the future of filmmaking, along with a plethora of worthwhile offers. Along with my personal favorites when it came to U.S. releases, two films also premiered that would’ve topped this list had they come out in 2023: Bertrand Bonello’s The Beast and Víctor Erice’s still-shockingly-undistributed Close Your Eyes.
While they didn’t make the top 15 cut below, I must make mention for the most essential, one-and-done viewing of the year with De Humani Corporis...
The greatest year in cinema since the monumental offerings of 2007––a transformative year that set the seeds for this very site to come into existence––2023 offered a resounding affirmative that indeed the medium is alive and well: auteurs flexing what they do best, newcomers providing a hopeful voice for the future of filmmaking, along with a plethora of worthwhile offers. Along with my personal favorites when it came to U.S. releases, two films also premiered that would’ve topped this list had they come out in 2023: Bertrand Bonello’s The Beast and Víctor Erice’s still-shockingly-undistributed Close Your Eyes.
While they didn’t make the top 15 cut below, I must make mention for the most essential, one-and-done viewing of the year with De Humani Corporis...
- 12/25/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Film at Lincoln Center
A massive Edward Yang retrospective, New York’s first in a dozen years, has begun, featuring new restorations of A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong.
Museum of the Moving Image
A Roy Andersson retrospective begins with two lesser-seen works; the Todd Haynes series continues with Carol and Far from Heaven; Ghost in the Shell plays on Friday, while The Shop Around the Corner screens through the weekend.
Film Forum
A Charlie Chaplin series is underway to coincide with the new Woman of Paris restoration; Days of Heaven (read our interview with Brooke Adams) and Michael Powell’s career-killing masterwork Peeping Tom continue.
Museum of Modern Art
The comprehensive Ennio Morricone retrospective continues, including Once Upon a Time in America.
Roxy Cinema
Amadeus plays on 35mm; Home Alone also screens.
IFC Center
It’s a Wonderful Life and Alphaville have runs; Black Christmas, Revenge of the Sith, Last Crusade,...
A massive Edward Yang retrospective, New York’s first in a dozen years, has begun, featuring new restorations of A Confucian Confusion and Mahjong.
Museum of the Moving Image
A Roy Andersson retrospective begins with two lesser-seen works; the Todd Haynes series continues with Carol and Far from Heaven; Ghost in the Shell plays on Friday, while The Shop Around the Corner screens through the weekend.
Film Forum
A Charlie Chaplin series is underway to coincide with the new Woman of Paris restoration; Days of Heaven (read our interview with Brooke Adams) and Michael Powell’s career-killing masterwork Peeping Tom continue.
Museum of Modern Art
The comprehensive Ennio Morricone retrospective continues, including Once Upon a Time in America.
Roxy Cinema
Amadeus plays on 35mm; Home Alone also screens.
IFC Center
It’s a Wonderful Life and Alphaville have runs; Black Christmas, Revenge of the Sith, Last Crusade,...
- 12/22/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Film at Lincoln Center is unveiling an Edward Yang retrospective to honor the late filmmaker into the New Year.
Titled “Desire/Expectations: The Films of Edward Yang,” the curated series includes screenings of Yang’s “Yi Yi,” “A Brighter Summer Day,” “Taipei Story,” and the world premiere of a new 4K restoration of “Mahjong.” The Film at Lincoln Center series additionally debuts a new restoration of “A Confucian Confusion.”
IndieWire now reveals that the series, which kicks off December 22, will extend its run through January 9 with new additional screenings, including “Mahjong” in 4K. Also, Yang’s widow, pianist Kaili Peng, who composed the score for “Yi Yi” and is heard playing the piano throughout the film, will introduce the 6:30 p.m. screening of that film on December 22 at 6:30 p.m. That screening will follow a special opening reception at the Furman Gallery at 5:00 p.m.
“Desire/Expectations...
Titled “Desire/Expectations: The Films of Edward Yang,” the curated series includes screenings of Yang’s “Yi Yi,” “A Brighter Summer Day,” “Taipei Story,” and the world premiere of a new 4K restoration of “Mahjong.” The Film at Lincoln Center series additionally debuts a new restoration of “A Confucian Confusion.”
IndieWire now reveals that the series, which kicks off December 22, will extend its run through January 9 with new additional screenings, including “Mahjong” in 4K. Also, Yang’s widow, pianist Kaili Peng, who composed the score for “Yi Yi” and is heard playing the piano throughout the film, will introduce the 6:30 p.m. screening of that film on December 22 at 6:30 p.m. That screening will follow a special opening reception at the Furman Gallery at 5:00 p.m.
“Desire/Expectations...
- 12/18/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
This year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival (Hkiff) will open with two local films – Soi Cheang’s noir thriller Mad Fate and the world premiere of Ann Hui’s Elegies, a documentary about contemporary local poetry.
Mad Fate, starring Gordon Lam and Lokman Yeung, a member of hot boy band Mirror, recently had its world premiere at the Berlin film festival. Soi Cheang has also been chosen as the Filmmaker In Focus at this year’s Hkiff.
The world premiere of Cheuk Wan-chi’s Vital Sign, starring starring Louis Koo, Yau Hawk-sau and Angela Yuen, will close the festival.
Hkiff, which runs for 12 days from March 30 to April 10, is returning to its usual spring dates after being postponed to August last year due to Hong Kong’s fifth and most serious wave of Covid.
Overseas filmmakers, including Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-Liang and Lee Kang-Sheng, will be returning to the...
Mad Fate, starring Gordon Lam and Lokman Yeung, a member of hot boy band Mirror, recently had its world premiere at the Berlin film festival. Soi Cheang has also been chosen as the Filmmaker In Focus at this year’s Hkiff.
The world premiere of Cheuk Wan-chi’s Vital Sign, starring starring Louis Koo, Yau Hawk-sau and Angela Yuen, will close the festival.
Hkiff, which runs for 12 days from March 30 to April 10, is returning to its usual spring dates after being postponed to August last year due to Hong Kong’s fifth and most serious wave of Covid.
Overseas filmmakers, including Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-Liang and Lee Kang-Sheng, will be returning to the...
- 3/10/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film TV
Hong Kong High
Already the highest grossing local film in its home market, courtroom drama, “A Guilty Conscience” has broken into Hong Kong’s all-time top ten box office ranking with a cumulative of Hk$107 million ($13.7 million). Data from Hong Kong Box Office Ltd. shows the film achieving the feat after just 41 days in cinemas and coming within Hk$1 million of overtaking “Top Gun: Maverick.” The data firm noted that the last time a Hong Kong film got this far was with fantasy-action-comedy “Kung Fu Hustle” in 2004. Since then, it has been overtaken by a fleet of Hollywood titles. Hong Hong’s current top ten is headed by “Avengers: Endgame” and includes six Marvel movies, the two “Avatar” titles and “Titanic.”
Streamer Encourages Churn
With its shares buoyed by recent more positive results, Chinese video streamer iQiyi is returning to the capital markets – again. The Nasdaq-listed company is issuing $600 million...
Already the highest grossing local film in its home market, courtroom drama, “A Guilty Conscience” has broken into Hong Kong’s all-time top ten box office ranking with a cumulative of Hk$107 million ($13.7 million). Data from Hong Kong Box Office Ltd. shows the film achieving the feat after just 41 days in cinemas and coming within Hk$1 million of overtaking “Top Gun: Maverick.” The data firm noted that the last time a Hong Kong film got this far was with fantasy-action-comedy “Kung Fu Hustle” in 2004. Since then, it has been overtaken by a fleet of Hollywood titles. Hong Hong’s current top ten is headed by “Avengers: Endgame” and includes six Marvel movies, the two “Avatar” titles and “Titanic.”
Streamer Encourages Churn
With its shares buoyed by recent more positive results, Chinese video streamer iQiyi is returning to the capital markets – again. The Nasdaq-listed company is issuing $600 million...
- 3/3/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film TV
Edward Yang’s retrospective is the highlight of this year’s Five Flavours. For decades, he was known as a key representative of the Taiwanese New Wave and a master of world cinema but – strangely enough – he is still waiting to be fully discovered. The program was long in the making, as Yang’s films were being digitally restored. Now, for the first time in Poland, the festival can present his retrospective to the public.
Edward Yang shows the world of the upper-middle class in Taipei – the city he portraits as conflicted, chaotic, filled with chance encounters and surprising coincidences. New skyscrapers contrast with makeshift houses, extreme materialism coexists with a deep longing for the sense of belonging, American restaurants and clubs go hand in hand with traditional stalls offering cheap, local snacks. In every one of his films, Yang focuses on the images of modern love and the hope...
Edward Yang shows the world of the upper-middle class in Taipei – the city he portraits as conflicted, chaotic, filled with chance encounters and surprising coincidences. New skyscrapers contrast with makeshift houses, extreme materialism coexists with a deep longing for the sense of belonging, American restaurants and clubs go hand in hand with traditional stalls offering cheap, local snacks. In every one of his films, Yang focuses on the images of modern love and the hope...
- 9/2/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Pathé’s 4K restoration of No Fear No Die is a highlight of the Revivals program Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Film at Lincoln Center has announced the Revivals selections of the 60th New York Film Festival. Highlights include Pedro Costa’s O Sangue (Blood); Jean Eustache’s The Mother and the Whore, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Bernadette Lafont, and Françoise Lebrun; Jacques Tourneur’s Canyon Passage starring Brian Donlevy (with Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg consulting on this restoration); Claire Denis’s No Fear No Die with Isaach De Bankole, Alex Descas, and Jean-Claude Brialy; Mikko Niskanen’s Eight Deadly Shots; Manoel de Oliveira’s The Day Of Despair on the life of Camilo Castelo Branco, played by Mario Barroso; Edward Yang’s A Confucian Confusion starring Ni Shujun, and Balufu Bakupu-Kanyinda’s Le Damier, screening with Radu Jude’s short The Potemkinists (in the Currents program).
The 60th New York Film...
Film at Lincoln Center has announced the Revivals selections of the 60th New York Film Festival. Highlights include Pedro Costa’s O Sangue (Blood); Jean Eustache’s The Mother and the Whore, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Bernadette Lafont, and Françoise Lebrun; Jacques Tourneur’s Canyon Passage starring Brian Donlevy (with Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg consulting on this restoration); Claire Denis’s No Fear No Die with Isaach De Bankole, Alex Descas, and Jean-Claude Brialy; Mikko Niskanen’s Eight Deadly Shots; Manoel de Oliveira’s The Day Of Despair on the life of Camilo Castelo Branco, played by Mario Barroso; Edward Yang’s A Confucian Confusion starring Ni Shujun, and Balufu Bakupu-Kanyinda’s Le Damier, screening with Radu Jude’s short The Potemkinists (in the Currents program).
The 60th New York Film...
- 8/24/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Film at Lincoln Center has announced the cinephile-favorite Revivals section for the 60th New York Film Festival, coming to NYC September 30 through October 16. The program showcases new restorations and preservations of important works from canonical filmmakers.
This year’s selection includes the hard-to-find “The Mother and the Whore” — which cameoed in the form of a poster featured in 2005’s “The Squid and the Whale” and brought the scandalous Jean Eustache some renewed attention. Starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Bernadette Lafont, and Françoise Lebrun, the philosophical love triangle set against the sexual revolution divided Cannes audiences in 1973. Earlier this year, the Les Films du Losange restoration opened the Cannes Classics section. It makes its North American premiere at NYFF.
Many of the significant works featured in the lineup include the world premiere restoration of Claire Denis’ “No Fear No Die”; a new 4K restoration of Glauber Rocha’s incendiary, audience-provoking “Black God, White Devil...
This year’s selection includes the hard-to-find “The Mother and the Whore” — which cameoed in the form of a poster featured in 2005’s “The Squid and the Whale” and brought the scandalous Jean Eustache some renewed attention. Starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Bernadette Lafont, and Françoise Lebrun, the philosophical love triangle set against the sexual revolution divided Cannes audiences in 1973. Earlier this year, the Les Films du Losange restoration opened the Cannes Classics section. It makes its North American premiere at NYFF.
Many of the significant works featured in the lineup include the world premiere restoration of Claire Denis’ “No Fear No Die”; a new 4K restoration of Glauber Rocha’s incendiary, audience-provoking “Black God, White Devil...
- 8/23/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
White NoiseCOMPETITIONWhite Noise (Noah Baumbach)Il Signore Delle Formiche (Gianni Amelio)The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)L’Immensita (Emanuele Crialese)Saint Omer (Alice Diop)Blonde (Andrew Dominik)Tár (Todd Field)Love Life (Koji Fukada)Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths (Alejandro G. Inarritu)Athena (Romain Gavras)Bones & All (Luca Guadagnino)The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)Beyond The Wall (Vahid Jalilvand)The Banshees Of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)Argentina, 1985 (Santiago Mitre)Chiara (Susanna Nicchiarelli)Monica (Andrea Pallaoro)No Bears (Jafar Panahi)All The Beauty And The Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)The Son (Florian Zeller)Our Ties (Roschdy Zem)Other People’s Children (Rebecca Zlotowski)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionThe Hanging Sun (Francesco Carrozzini)When The Waves Are Gone (Lav Diaz)Living (Oliver Hermanus)Dead For A Dollar (Walter Hill)Call Of God (Kim Ki-duk)Dreamin’ Wild (Bill Pohlad)Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)Siccità (Paolo Virzi)Pearl (Ti West)Don’t Worry Darling...
- 7/28/2022
- MUBI
Yang gets call for short-film jury at Cannes
PARIS -- Taiwanese director Edward Yang will preside over the short-film and Cinefondation juries at this year's Festival de Cannes, organizers said Tuesday. Yang won the prize for best direction for his film Yi Yi at the 2000 edition of the Festival de Cannes and is considered one of the founders of the Taiwanese new wave. His film A Confucian Confusion unspooled at the French festival in 1994. Yang will present the three Cinefondation prizes for shorts and minifeatures from film schools May 19 as well as the Palme d'Or for best short film at the May 21 awards ceremony. Previous jury presidents include Nikita Mikhalkov, Martin Scorsese, Luc Dardenne and Thomas Vinterberg.
- 4/13/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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