The closest to a road-movie I've seen from Hsiao-hsien Hou, Goodbye, South, Goodbye is a beguiling film that tells the story of three individuals in Kao, Fathead, and Pretzel. Kao is a gangster of sorts, running all sorts of schemes like undergournd gambling for example, to make money. Accompanying him from city to city, town to town, is his closest friend Fathead, a walking bad decision who seems to always accompanied by his ditzy, strange girlfriend Pretzel. The problem for Kao is Pretzel and Fathead are always a constant liability in one way or another, with Fathead constantly getting into fights with his cousin, a cop, and seemingly put on this earth to simply make mistakes. Always having to help them out of trouble due to their inability to take care of themselves, Kao garners the nickname "Big Bro" though his patience for their mistakes is wearing thin. A burden that Kao must bear, Fathead and Pretzels behavior escalates throughout the movie, as Hou uses long tracking shots to explore the strange character dynamics that make this relationship work. The road-movie aspect of Goodbye, South, Goodbye comes into full swing with Hou's use of these traveling shots, point of view sequences from trains, cars, even characters in the film, that give Goodbye, South, Goodbye a very distinct dreamlike feeling. One of my favorite sequences of the film is a motorcycle sequence, not from a point of view, but a lengthy tracking shot that follows Kao and the couple, Pretzel and Fathead, on motorcycles, weaving down a windy road. Probably a few minutes in length, Hou shows more about these characters relationship than any dialogue every could. While most of Hou's films have some semblance of humor, Goodbye, South, Goodbye is defintiely one of the funnier ones I've seen, taking full of advantage of its two moronic characters. This is a movie where you have to talk about the ending, and while one of its best attributes is its ambiguity, it felt clear to me. One could even argue the end of the film makes this Hou's dark comedy, as Kao falls asleep at the wheel with all three of them in it, crashiing but being the only one to suffer serious injuries. It's not clear if Kao dies or not, but I like to think he did, as if Hou is expressing how Pretzel and Fathead did eventually indirectly kill Kao, a burden he could no longer bear. The film also seems to have something to say about money and its ability to corrupt and supersede almost everything on the heirarcy, though I wouldn't say it is a central aspect of the film. Goodbye, South, Goodbye is one of Hou's most impressive films visually, which is saying something, as he has created a strange, meandering experience with purpose.
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June 2023
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