Rebels of the Neon God
Encyclopedia
Rebels of the Neon God is a 1992
1992 in film
The year 1992 in film involved many significant films. -Top grossing films:-Awards:Academy AwardsGolden Globe AwardsNational Film Awards...

 Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

ese film by Tsai Ming-liang
Tsai Ming-liang
Tsai Ming-liang is one of the most celebrated "Second New Wave" film directors of Taiwanese Cinema, along with earlier contemporaries such as Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Edward Yang...

. It is his first full-length film. It tells two stories of Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...

 youth. One details alienated buxiban
Buxiban
Buxiban are cram schools in Taiwan and the People's Republic of China.It's a traditional belief that parents should send their children to all kinds of cram schools in order to compete against other talented children...

 student Hsiao Kang (Lee Kang-sheng
Lee Kang-sheng
Lee Kang-sheng is a Taiwanese actor, film director, and screenwriter. He has appeared in all of Tsai Ming-liang's feature films. Lee's directorial efforts include The Missing in 2003 and Help Me Eros in 2007.-Career:...

) and his troubled interactions with his family. The other shows two petty hoods, Ah Tze and Ah Bing, along with Ah Kuei, Tze's erstwhile girlfriend. An idle act of violence brings the two groups into collision, and an act of revenge at the end completes the circle. It is a story of troubled youth, dissatisfaction, and the alienating effect of urban life.

Much of Rebels of the Neon God is filmed in various arcades and malls in Taipei and on the streets of the city with hand-held cameras. It is filmed in a much more naturalistic manner than some of Tsai's later work.

Title

The Taiwanese title refers to Nezha
Nezha (deity)
Nezha, Na Zha or Nata . He was then given the title "Third Lotus Prince" after he became a deity.Modern scholarship has shown that he is based on two figures from Hindu mythology, namely Nalakubar and Krishna....

, a powerful child god in Chinese classical mythology who was born into a human family. Nezha is impulsive and disobedient. He tries to kill his father, but is brought under control when a Taoist immortal (Nezha's spiritual mentor) gives the father a miniature pagoda that enables him to control his rebellious son. This resonates in the film a number of ways: Lee's mother believes that he is Nezha reincarnated, and Tze and Bing try to pawn off some stolen goods to an arcade proprieter named Nezha. Before the pawning of the stolen goods, Lee vandalizes Tze's motorcycle, including graffiti stating "Here is Nezha."

Cast

  • Lee Kang-sheng
    Lee Kang-sheng
    Lee Kang-sheng is a Taiwanese actor, film director, and screenwriter. He has appeared in all of Tsai Ming-liang's feature films. Lee's directorial efforts include The Missing in 2003 and Help Me Eros in 2007.-Career:...

     - Hsiao Kang
  • Chen Chao-jung
    Chen Chao-jung
    Chen Chao-jung is a Taiwanese actor. He is most famous for starring in several of Tsai Ming-liang's films, including Rebels of the Neon God and Vive L'Amour.-Filmography:...

     - Ah Tze
  • Chang-bin Jen - Ah Bing
  • Yu-Wen Wang - Ah Kuei
  • Lu Yi-Ching
    Lu Yi-Ching
    Lu Yi-Ching is a Taiwanese actress born in 1960. She played in several films from Tsai Ming-liang to Cheng Wen-Tang...

     - Hsiao Kang's mother
  • Tien Miao - Hsiao Kang's father

Awards

The film won Golden Horse Awards for Best Original Score , Prize of the City of Torino for Best Film at the Torino International Festival of Young Cinema, and the Bronze Award at Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival
Tokyo International Film Festival is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biannually from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter...

.
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