This spectacular new film by Tsai Ming-liang seems to bring his oeuvre together in a wonderful mass of film pleasure exploding with excitement and ideas. References to the film makers Truffaut and Rivette, to Western art – Face was commissioned by the Louvre – to the Bible and Buddhism and countless references to his own films turn Face into a neon sign for the everyday and heavenly obsessions of the maker. Burst water mains and erotic desires are the symbols for worlds that cannot restrain themselves and flood into each other in total surrender. Song and dance scenes tell without dialogue the story of a Taiwanese film maker who wants to film in the Louvre the myth of the seductive Salomé, but during the chaotic production he is afflicted by the illness of his mother. In essence, a story about seduction – by the arts, by bodies, by beauty.
Film details
Countries of production
Belgium, France, Netherlands, Taiwan
Year
2009
Festival edition
IFFR 2010
Length
141'
Medium/Format
35mm
Language
French, Mandarin
Premiere status
None
Director
Tsai Ming-liang
Producer
Jacques Bidou, Marianne Dumoulin, Vincent Wang, Henri Loyrette, Joseph Rouschop, Stienette Bosklopper
Screenplay
Tsai Ming-liang
Editing
Jacques Comets
Production design
Alain-Pascal Housiaux, Patrick Dechesne
Principal cast
Lu Yi-Ching, Lee Kang-sheng
Music
Jean-Claude Petit
Production company
JBA Production, Homegreen Films Co., Le musée du Louvre, Tarantula, Circe Films BV, ARTE France Cinéma