Xiao Kang

At the Viennale´s invitation, the Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang, known through works such as REBELS OF THE NEON GOD, THE RIVER, THE HOLE and WAYWARD CLOUD, created a short, approximately two-minute homage to Lee Kang-sheng – the actor who has appeared in almost all of Tsai Ming-liang´s films over the past thirty years and significantly influenced his entire oeuvre.
The film b>Xiao Kang shows Lee Kang-sheng roaming through a bamboo forest in a succession of simultaneously mysterious and unintentional movements. These again are alienated by the projection of silent black-and-white footage, accompanied only by the sound of a projector. It´s a fine, minimalist work, oscillating between dream and memory and kept entirely in the style of Tsai Ming-liang’´s great films.