Having read that if you want to understand Tsai Ming-Liang, Stray Dogs is NOT the place to start I watched this film both with apprehension and excitement. Well, what did I get?
A LONG welcome to the world of slow Cinema!
With the opening scene running seven minutes long, consisting only of a woman brushing her hair whilst children sleep, it wasn’t exactly the welcome I was hoping for.
As a fan of both hard-hitting and ridiculous cinema, I’m open to most things; but the world of Tsai Ming-Liang was completely new to me. Scenes of ten plus minutes are not rare in Stray Dogs and most consist simply of someone staring, drinking or brushing their teeth. It can be difficult and tiresome to watch at times, with what seems like little point. The only real plot in this film is the entry of a nameless woman who takes in both the nameless man and his two children in an attempt to improve their lives, but still, pretty much nothing happens. Most of the film consists of us simply watching the shameful poverty in which the Lee family are forced to live. Sleeping in an abandoned and desolate building in central Taipei, it’s title Stray Dogs seems to refers to the manner in which the family are forced to live due to poor wages and the fathers alcoholism. With each day slower than the last, the children spend their time doing whatever it takes to survive.
Stray Dogs is not for a mainstream audience, and to be honest not for me either, but when I look back there is a beauty in its simplicity though at first, it’s difficult to see. A harrowing display of urban poverty, it’s a true reflection of the way time flows. At the worst times of our lives, each suffocating moment lasting a lifetime and in those moments of relative clarity months can disappear at once. This is a rare film that’s taken at the speed of reality and doesn’t jump from one important event to another and in a way it’s exciting to see this kind of reality portrayed on screen.
Choosing to utilise his long standing leading man, Lee Kang-sheng, who plays the nameless father, Ming-Liang is using a tried and tested formula; but I can see why. If ever there was an actor who could portray internal conflict more powerfully, I’ve yet to see them. A 7 minute seen in which he stands in the wind, crying as he sings Chinese folk songs, is in my opinion the most beautiful and worthwhile scene in the whole film and whilst not vital to the story (though few of them are) this scene could in itself have been an award winning short. His choice to use three different women to portray the woman who rescues the Lee children from their father’s downfall is a strange one and one I won’t claim to understand, but I guess that’s the point of Stray Dogs. Its art is in making you question, disorientating you and giving you what could either be conceived as a boring portrayal of nothing or a soul changing experience. It all depends on your point of view.
Ultimately Stray Dogs is a film for fans who see film as art and not just entertainment and won’t be enjoyed by many, but will be applauded by the few. Make sure you know what you’re in for BEFORE you O
Out on DVD now.
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