(no subject)
To watch a film from director Tsai Ming Liang is equivalent to He does not vary camera angles and dares to show aspects of the human experience that would make most westerners blush. Other techniques involve the scant use of a musical score as well as film endings that are inconclusive. His particular use of the film language flies in the face of the Hollywood Model-the most obvious being his exploration of the natural parts of humanity be it raw sexual depictions, or perhaps his fascination with bodily functions and the fluids that accompany them. He frequently delves into these areas head on depicting the private moments in which human beings express their most vulnerable feelings which are magnified and put on display for the audience to absorb. Characters masturbate, urinate, sweat and cry all within the eye of the camera. Hollywood films would lead the viewer to believe that the camera is incapable of venturing to these environments and as a result these normal activities pop out in gloriously provocative fashion. Whether the trained eyes and ears of a western audience (trained in this case to imply unchallenged) embrace or cringe at what is presented on screen is an entirely different, but completely fascinating matter. In the Hollywood model, emotion and vulnerability have progressed to a level that aims at realism in its depiction but it is still framed by gorgeous lighting and is for the most part choreographed to the nth degree.
Another stark difference that Tsai Ming Liang employs in his filmmmaking is his treatment of sound. Most of the sounds that appear in his film world seem to come from within that world and are diagetic. There is little or no musical score to cue an audience to drum up a certain emotion at a given time. Tension and emotion are all mapped out by the soundscape he employs in his films. The sound of water in all its forms are used to particularly highlight the tension of scenes, most notably in The River, where rain is used to great extent bearing down on his characters, enhancing their state of perpetual chaos ,or the incessant drip of water trickling in serving to add punctuation a character's volatile state. In the Hollywood framework composers would be called in the milk these scenes, inserting intense string melodies and other auditory accoutrements. Another way in which Tsai Ming Liang's style contrasts with the typical Hollywood style is the way his films are edited and framed. His shot duration is very generous compared to western standards. He allows scenes to breathe by not moving the camera or making rapid cuts. This adds a level of alienation that appears to be a common He employs lotwhich demands that a character reach his goal (more often than not) by the end of the picture.
Another stark difference that Tsai Ming Liang employs in his filmmmaking is his treatment of sound. Most of the sounds that appear in his film world seem to come from within that world and are diagetic. There is little or no musical score to cue an audience to drum up a certain emotion at a given time. Tension and emotion are all mapped out by the soundscape he employs in his films. The sound of water in all its forms are used to particularly highlight the tension of scenes, most notably in The River, where rain is used to great extent bearing down on his characters, enhancing their state of perpetual chaos ,or the incessant drip of water trickling in serving to add punctuation a character's volatile state. In the Hollywood framework composers would be called in the milk these scenes, inserting intense string melodies and other auditory accoutrements. Another way in which Tsai Ming Liang's style contrasts with the typical Hollywood style is the way his films are edited and framed. His shot duration is very generous compared to western standards. He allows scenes to breathe by not moving the camera or making rapid cuts. This adds a level of alienation that appears to be a common He employs lotwhich demands that a character reach his goal (more often than not) by the end of the picture.