my late class tonight got cancelled, so i managed to finally go see hou hsiao hsien's cafe lumiere. i had heard mixed things about the film, and i have to admit i have mixed feelings about it. the end was a bit abrupt, and i'm still not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. the film is supposed to be shot in the style of ozu, but i'm not familiar with his work to say if it failed or suceeded on that level. but it did seem very much like a hou hsiao hsien film, with what he likes to have in the frame and what he doesn't. also it seems like he may be being influenced by tsai ming-liang(or maybe it's the other way around?) with long takes with no music, just natural sounds.

i'm always hearing how taiwanese don't like local films because they aren't commercial enough, and that this film hasn't been very popular, but it was pretty packed tonight. not sure if that is because people want to see it, or because the film is only screening until tomorrow afternoon and this is the last evening to see it.