Asian Film Festival of Dallas 2010

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“This is strange.  It’s hard to express.”

The standard description of VISAGE is: Hsiao-Kang, a Taiwanese film director, travels to the Louvre in Paris, France, to shoot a film that explores the Salomé myth. But nothing about VISAGE is that simple.  Cinema within cinema, art for art’s sake, and sensuality-as-museum-piece, VISAGE has a lot to offer but the viewer must first accept that there is no easy explanation of what you are about to experience, and the one thing that is certain about the film is that it is more experience than story.

With its multiple musical numbers (lip-synced by ravishing actresses in wildly exotic costumes), puzzle-box narrative and densely-shot images (with close, cluttered sets and the director’s captivating use of light and shadow), VISAGE may be the most artistic riddle you have ever seen. Tsai Ming-Liang received rare government approval to shoot inside the fabled Louvre, and has created a film that would be appropriately exhibited there as well.

Director

Tsai Ming-Liang

Cast

Lee Kang-Sheng, Lu Yi-Ching, Fanny Ardant, Jean-Pierre Leaud

Country

France, Taiwan

Language

English Subtitles, French, Mandarin, Min Nan

Alternate Titles

Face

Release Date

2009

Runtime

138 minutes

Exhibition Format

35mm