| Everyone seems to have a hobby that somehow allows them to ponder, mentally digress or contemplate - often this is associated with the outdoors and communing with nature - deep-sea diving, skiing, golfing, hiking or even just kite flying in the park. Hou Hsiao-hsien's films are as close as I can find in cinema for duplicating the quality of that same emotional response. His films can be interpretively difficult, and vary stridently from mass appeal and its corresponding box-office take. This is true for most aesthetically rich films though. Hou uses poetic and enduring imagery that filters through your memory banks and evoke a restful response - comparatively for me the warm and relaxing sensation you get from a long soak in the bath, listening to classical music or reading beautiful poetry. Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami evokes similar responses in his films and has commented that he enjoys almost putting his viewers into a sleeping state. The narrative, plot, and dialogue of this cinema all becomes secondary to the images which gracefully dance through to your sub-conscious. Indeed these film conventions seem quite stayed by Hou as if to pull you aggressively toward the strikingly simple and beautiful cinematography. These are films for people who love art and beauty. Each are unique... yet all are similar in their introspective qualities. |
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