Tsai Ming-liang's brilliantly original debut film.
This is the iconic debut film of Tsai Ming-liang, one of the most original and uncompromising filmmakers of the 90s, and one of the directors who helped put Taiwan on the world cinema map.
Rebels of the Neon God, the first film in the trilogy that continues with Vive lamour and The River, is equipped with most of the themes and motifs that we find in his later films. We have the tension between a rootless, petty-criminal city life and Taiwanese traditions and superstitions (the mother of the protagonist suspects that her son is the reincarnation of a god). We have the water symbolism, as one of the characters has his apartment flooded. We have the search for sexual identity, often homosexually emphasised in this film, when the protagonist becomes infatuated with a slightly older boy. We have the naturalistic acting and the sparse dialogue. And last but not least, this is Lee Kang-sheng's debut film. Tsai discovered him himself, and it's no small feat for the anguished, awkward but extremely likeable Lee to play the lead in Tsai's films.
Tsai Ming-liang (b. 1957) is a Malaysian filmmaker based in Taiwan. He has directed several important films in Taiwanese film history. Rebels of the Neon God (1992) is his first feature film.
Running time 1h 46m (106 minutes)
Original title Qingshaonian Nuozha
Taiwan, 1992
Director: Tsai Ming-liang
Cast: Lee Kang-sheng, Wang Yu-wen, Chen Chao-jung, Jen Chang-bin, Miao Tien, Lu Hsiao-ling
Mandarin and min nan speech, English subtitles
Age limit 15 years