Some filmmakers can distill their movies down to a single face. François Truffaut is one of them. Through Truffaut’s films, Jean-Pierre Léaud’s rogue vibe has become synonymous with the spirit of French new wave. Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang, a follower of Truffaut, is one of them. His film doubles as a facial record of his muse Lee Kangsheng, capturing every gradation in detail over time.
Commissioned by the Louvre Museum, Cai’s 2009 film Faces combines Lee’s and Leo’s remarkable facial features. Lee plays director Kang, who is in Paris to shoot a film at the Louvre about Salome’s biblical story. Leo, like his character in Truffaut’s films, plays an aging actor named Antoine, but Fanny Ardant (Truffaut’s partner until his death in 1984) has emerged as a troublesome producer. increase.
Time is the principle of the “Face” story. The impending death of Kang’s ailing mother (Lu Yi-ching) casts a mortal shadow over the film, especially Leo and Lee. It sometimes appears like a reflection of each other’s past and future.
The film unfolds as a series of tableaux whose preciousness is softened by hints of perversion: lust, incest, slapstick, and, most of all, the odd labor of filmmaking. At one point, Laetitia Casta, who plays Salome, is in very close-up, arguing over how the Kang crew make her look cold. Wipe your cheeks and rub them with ice. Her face is both a decorative mask and a fragile container of rolling emotions, enveloping the ironic duality of Tsai’s films.
face
Unrated. French, Mandarin, English, with subtitles. Running time: 2 hours 18 minutes. at the theater.