Click to read the article
Goodbye Dragon Inn (2004)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
Reviews Counted: 31
Fresh: 25
Rotten:6
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Theatrical Release:Sep 17, 2004 Limited
Synopsis: The subject of cinema, of the mix of loneliness and connection that is part of being in a movie audience, is the concern of this sad, beautiful, minimalist composition by Taiwanese director Tsai... The subject of cinema, of the mix of loneliness and connection that is part of being in a movie audience, is the concern of this sad, beautiful, minimalist composition by Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-Liang (WHAT TIME IS IT THERE?). The action takes place Inside a Taipei movie theater operated by a lonely clubfooted woman (Shiyang Chi-Chen) whose slow steps echo through the empty corridors and aisles, as if measuring out the feet of celluloid that make up the film itself. When a character actually speaks, the film is half over, and his exclamation that the theater is "haunted" echoes uneasily through the rest of the film, causing one to wonder just who is a ghost and who isn't. A lonely visitor to the theater (Kiyonobu Mitamura) acts pretty real. But then there are characters who seem to come out of nowhere to sit next to him and bother him with their loud eating. The film on the theater screen is the 1966 King Hu martial arts classic, DRAGON INN, and one of that film's original actors is even in the theater, with his grandson. While not a lot seems to happen, Tsai's film is never dull thanks to the playful sense of sound and stunning cinematography. In chronicling the impermanence of life, and of film itself, this film becomes post-modern as well as beautiful, and---rare for an art film of this sort--accessible and engaging even to the casual movie lover. [More]
Starring: Lee Kang-Sheng, Chen Shiang-Chyi, Chen Chao-Jung, Lu Yi-Cheng
Starring: Lee Kang-Sheng, Chen Shiang-Chyi, Chen Chao-Jung, Lu Yi-Cheng, Yang Kuei-Mei, Miao Tien
Director: Tsai Ming-Liang
Director: Tsai Ming-Liang
Screenwriter: Tsai Ming-Liang
Studio: Wellspring
Get This Movie
Reviews for Goodbye Dragon Inn
Plays as a meditation on the deep feelings felt by the viewer and the filmmaker towards the movie experience.
It’s not a sentimental ode to the cinema like “Cinema Paradiso.” It’s more like “Cinema Purgatorio.”
A weird, funny, melancholy tribute to movies and movie-going, an opus for film geeks that rang my personal bell.
This is one of the most gorgeous and maturely composed movies you'll see this year.
Tsai is hugely popular with film critics, I believe, in part because film critics actually have something to do while watching his films. While the girl is limping down the hallway, we can take notes. Regular theatergoers? They can only watch helplessly.
... at once an elegy for the communal experience of cinema-going and another quintessentially Tsai portrait of loneliness and isolation.
Hypnotic in effect but ultimately rather irritating, Goodbye, Dragon Inn will entice those viewers who like oblique, allusive cinema.
Tsai Ming-Ling's bitter-sweet Goodbye Dragon Inn isn't easy to categorise: an exercise in cinematic minimalism, it's a ghost story, a deadpan comedy, and a lament for an earlier era of film-going.
The real star of the movie is the doomed movie house itself, and the dominant subtext is the emotional transaction between the viewer and his (or her) more vividly vicarious adventures projected on-screen.
What really sticks with you is the picture's aura of twilight vibrancy, and the deep pleasure Tsai takes in savoring subtle emotions that other filmmakers might not even register.
Though the film's deliberate pace is sometimes frustrating, it casts a quietly powerful spell and the memory of its images lingers provocatively long after they've flickered into darkness.
A droll gem that celebrates movie love with feeling and deadpan humor.
A loving tribute to cinema by Tsai Ming-liang, one of Taiwan's most accomplished and popular directors.
A masterful meditation on both the singular and collective experience of going to the movies.
Related Forums for Goodbye Dragon Inn
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
79% 79% |
Gran Torino |
30% 30% |
12 Rounds |
23% 23% |
Confessions of a Shopa… |
|
The Code |
39% 39% |
Inkheart |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
22% 22% |
Push |
12% 12% |
The Unborn |
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Sponsored Links
Around The Network
- Goodbye Dragon Inn at Rotten Tomatoes
- Goodbye Dragon Inn at AskMen
Fresh Links
Featured

MSN's David Fear and Frank Paiva go head to head discussing the pros and cons of Bruno star Sacha Baron Cohen.

The AV Club's Scott Tobias takes a second look at David Lynch's cult classic, Lost Highway.

TIME takes us on a 25-year long journey into the superstar's career, giving us a look at his 10 best roles.

BuzzSugar reports on Paramount's plans to rebirth the iconic TV show as a comedy film.



Top Critic

