REBELS OF THE NEON GOD Trailer | TIFF 2021

Taiwanese master Tsai Ming-liang had already formed his auteurist voice for his first feature, 1992’s now-legendary Rebels of the Neon God. The film already included elements characteristic of his subsequent work: a deceptively spare style; actor Lee Kang-sheng, a fixture in all of Tsai’s future films, as the sullen anti-hero; abundant rainfall; and enough urban anomie to ensure that even its subtle humour is tinged with pathos. Rebels follows the despondent Hsiao-kang, a cram-school student obsessed with a young petty thief, Ah-tze (Chen Chao-jung), who smashed the side mirror on Hsiao-kang’s father’s taxi. Hsiao-kang stalks Ah-tze and his buddy Ah-ping before ultimately taking his revenge. While showing influences of the French New Wave, early Wong Kar Wai, and, without a doubt, Rebel Without a Cause, Tsai’s debut is most remarkable for introducing his own unique vision to world cinema. The promise of Rebels of the Neon God was confirmed by his equally stunning follow-up, Vive L’Amour, which won the Golden Lion at Venice in 1994 and established him as a leader in Taiwan’s Second New Wave. Programmed by TIFF’s Asian Heritage Month Staff Advisory Committee Content advisories: sexually suggestive scenes, violence This TIFF Cinematheque Presents title is co-branded as part of the Asia Unbound series. TIFF’s Asian Heritage Month programme is made possible thanks to the generous assistance of: Blockchain Venture Capital Inc., Andy Chan, Elegant Financial Inc., Sharifa Khan/Balmoral Marketing, Alan Kwong, Ben Leung, Irwin Li, Nobis Inc. and Justin Poy.