Nan guo zai jian, nan guo - Hou Hsiao-hsien (1996)

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Nan guo zai jian, nan guo - Hou Hsiao-hsien (1996)

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A film of grace and freedom, a kind of Taiwanese rewrite of Martin Scorsese's Mean Steets.

Tattooed mobster, Kao, and his quick-tempered, aptly named protégé, Flathead, along with their girlfriends, Ying and Pretzel, are desperately trying to make it big. Their master plan is open a restaurant in Shanghai, but that scheme seems less and less likely with each call they get from their cell phone. Corrupt mainland potentates want a king's ransom in kickbacks while Pretzel racked up a king's ransom of debt herself at the mahjong table, prompting her to make a half-hearted suicide attempt. To make ends meet, these would-be entrepreneurs make a stab at swindling the government over swine – selling sows when they are supposed to be the more valuable studs. They wine and dine the farmers in rural backwater Chiayi only to get cut out of the deal and kidnapped by the corrupt police.

"Goodbye South Goodbye" presents a beautifully delineated portrait of a generation of Taiwanese cut off from their society's traditional values. This film portrays the contrast between the almost feudal tradition and its hierarchy with gangsterism and corrupt business practices. Somehow, Hou transcends this feeling of entrapment and aimlessness with long takes of lyrical beauty. The camera in this film does not judge. It simply records the unfolding of events. Hou simply discloses the character of complex relationships and situations. This film is pulsating with rhythm, the rhythm of a train, the rhythm of techno-punk music, the rhythm of life.

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Nan guo zai jian, nan guo - Hou Hsiao-hsien (1996)

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Nan guo zai jian, nan guo - Hou Hsiao-hsien (1996)

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Nan guo zai jian, nan guo - Hou Hsiao-hsien (1996)

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Nan guo zai jian, nan guo - Hou Hsiao-hsien (1996)

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Nan guo zai jian, nan guo - Hou Hsiao-hsien (1996)

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Nan guo zai jian, nan guo - Hou Hsiao-hsien (1996)

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