Part of Also like Life: The Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien
Saturday, September 13, 2014, 7:00 p.m.

With an introduction by J. Hoberman

Dir. Hou Hsiao-hsien. 1993, 142 mins. 35mm. With Li Tien-lu, Lim Giong. In the acclaimed second chapter of his "Taiwan Trilogy," Hou illustrates the childhood and early adulthood of Li Tien-lu, an 84-year-old Taiwanese puppet master, using a combination of documentary technique and elegant dramatization. The real Li, who had previously appeared in bit parts for Hou, functions as on- and off-screen narrator, as the film travels from 1908 to 1945, showing the years of Japanese rule as they impact one man’s life, including a ban of street theater in Taiwan during the Sino-Japanese war and recruitment of puppet-art for propaganda purposes. “I am exploring the values of traditional culture which we have lost, particularly at this juncture of our existence in an inflated materialist and technological age.” –Hou Hsiao-hsien