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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
(aka 'Aiqing wansui')
Solitude. Urban alienation. This second film by prominent Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang is a brilliant portrayal of isolation and urban disillusionment in modern Taipei. The movie focuses on three lonely souls: Hsiao-kang, a gay salesman of crematorium niches who wanders the city on his scooter; Ah-jung, a handsome street hawker of counterfeit designer goods; and May Lin, a struggling real estate agent. Hsiao-kang sneaks into a vacant apartment with a stolen key, takes a bath, and tries to slash his wrists. Meanwhile, May picks up Ah-jung and enters the same flat for a late-night tryst. As the film progresses, each character goes through the tedium of their lives: May waits in empty houses for prospective clients; Ah-jung hawks his wares while avoiding the police, and Hsiao-kang places fliers in anonymous mailboxes. All three use the unoccupied apartment at various times for their own needs without realizing the presence of the others, until Hsiao-kang and Ah-jung run into each other. After they both flee the place when May arrives, they develop an odd sort of friendship. |
Posters
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Theatrical Release: September 14th, 1944 - Toronto Film Festival
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Comparison:
Bitwin- Region 3 - NTSC vs. Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Sony Music Entertainment (TW) - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. REMASTERED (part of Tsai Ming Liang Collection) Sony Music (TW) - Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Box Covers |
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![]() Out-Of-Print North Americans: Rest of World: |
![]() Coming to Blu-ray in the US by Film Movement in March 2025: |
Distribution | Bitwin - Region 3 - NTSC | Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC | Sony Music Entertainment (TW) - Region FREE - Blu-ray | REMASTERED (part of Tsai Ming Liang Collection) Sony Music Entertainment (TW) - Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Runtime | 1:56:44 | 1:56:40 | 1:56:55.000 | 1:56:55.000 |
Video | 1.64:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.4 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
1.70:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.7 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
Disc Size: 22,598,169,208 bytes Feature Size: 21,881,290,752 bytes Average Bitrate: 21.93 MbpsSingle-layered Blu-ray MPEG-2 Video 1080P |
Disc Size: 22,606,436,108 bytes Feature Size: 21,881,290,752 bytes Average Bitrate: 21.93 MbpsSingle-layered Blu-ray MPEG-2 Video 24fps / 1080P |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
Bitwin |
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Bitrate:
Fox / Lorber |
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Bitrate
2011:
Blu-ray |
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Bitrate:
Remastered:
Blu-ray |
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Audio | Mandarin (Dolby Digital 2.0) | Mandarin (Dolby Digital 2.0) | LPCM Audio Chinese 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit | LPCM Audio Chinese 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit |
Subtitles | English, Korean, Chinese Simplified, none | English, (burned-in) | English, traditional Chinese, Chinese Simplified, none | English, traditional Chinese, Chinese Simplified, none |
Features |
Release Information: Edition Details: • Production
Credits (text screens) |
Release Information: Edition Details: • Production
Credits (text screens) |
Release Information: Disc Size: 22,598,169,208 bytes Feature Size: 21,881,290,752 bytes Average Bitrate: 21.93 MbpsSingle-layered Blu-ray MPEG-2 Video 1080P Edition Details:
• None on
Blu-ray |
Release Information: Disc Size: 22,606,436,108 bytes Feature Size: 21,881,290,752 bytes Average Bitrate: 21.93 MbpsSingle-layered Blu-ray MPEG-2 Video 24fps / 1080PEdition Details:
• Restoration advert (2:15)
Blu-ray |
Central Pictures Corporation has digitally remastered six classic films from the 80s and the 90s, producing brand-new digital prints that guarantee to overcome the test of time. After Dust in the Wind, four more of these films are arriving in high-definition on Blu-ray for fans to see these films the best way they have ever looked before. | |||
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Edward Yang's The Terrorizers |
Chen Kuo Fu's The Personals | Yu-Hsun Chen's Tropical Fish | Hsiao-hsien Hou's Dust in the Wind |
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North Americans: Rest of World: |
North Americans: Rest of World: |
North Americans: Rest of World: |
North Americans: Rest of World: |
Comments: |
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. ADDITION: REMASTERED (part of Tsai Ming Liang Collection) Sony Music Entertainment (TW) - Region FREE - Blu-ray - (March 2016) - This is the same 'Sony Music Corp.' transfer as released in 2011 - same MPEG2 (which is unusual as both Rebels Of The Neon God and The River are MPEG4 AVC) - 1080P 24fps, same menus as the 2011 release, same linear PCM audio, same running time to the 1/1000th of a second - but it is sold as part of the Tsai Ming Liang Collection with Rebels Of The Neon God/ The River and Vive L'amour. The disc has a negligibly larger file-size (a few bytes) and I can't determine why but the feature is exactly the same transfer. No extras aside from a 2-minute advert on the restorations. This package had the 3 films on Blu-ray and no DVDs. It does include a wonderful picture-book with plenty of photos and, what appears to be, a film cell from each of the films.
From the
Rebels and
The River
comparisons:
"These are totally English-friendly - menus, subtitles on both feature
and supplement (a 6 minute conversation with Tsai - and some clips) and
the impressive book has minimal text - but also English when listing the
films and some cool (what appears to be mock films cells - see photo
below). Not my favorite film from the director (would REALLY have liked
The Hole) but this package is recommended since we have suffered
so long with ineffectual SDs. Like watching the film for the first
time..."
*
ADDITION:
Sony Music
Entertainment (TW) -
Region FREE -
Blu-ray
- (May 2011) -
This is the same
'Sony Music
Corp.' that gave
us the
Dust in the Wind
Blu-ray
(reviewed
HERE) of
Hsiao-hsien
Hou's film.
While that was
interlaced -
this is MPEG2.
So the 1080P
image, on a
single-layered
disc, is
imperfect but a
significant
improvement over
the DVD
transfers. I
can't speak to
colors (blue
overtones) but
assume they are
more correct -
certainly the
vibrancy and
detail have
escalated. What
is also notable
is that there is
a large amount
of additional
information in
the frame -
mostly on both
side edges.
The case is
unique
(see image
below) -
although fans
can be picky and
want congruity
to their
blossoming
Blu-ray collection as they sit on their shelves.
Audio (linear
PCM) is kind of
a non-event as
there is hardly
any dialogue in
the film and no
score. When
words are spoken
(Mandarin) they
are audible but
subtitles have
some grammar
missteps - which
I forgive since
I don't believe
there is any
important
sub-text to
those
communications. Before the film we get a few words from director Chen Kuo-Fu on the restoration (removing dirt, print damage, stabilizing the frame/color grading etc.) of these 'Taiwan New Cinema' films that have been revamped and digitally remastered by the 'new management' of the Central Pictures Corporation of Taiwan. Then there are some split-screen samples (the menu itself does this as well for Vive L'amour). This introduction into the transfer is about 2-minutes long with some eventual caveats that they cannot improve upon the source of synchronization issues. There is nothing on the Blu-ray in terms of extras. There is a second disc - a dual-layered DVD in its own case that has the feature film and a 30-minute piece -> a subtitled 'interview' with Tsai. It has some merit as an interesting discussion on the film. Before this the same 2-minute 'intro' on restoration is shown. Okay, despite the notable mistakes -> subtitle translations (not fatal), the MPEG2 transfer as opposed to AVC and sharing the 'interview' on the same DVD as the feature when it could have more easily fit on the Blu-ray disc - I am not deterred as I am such a big fan of the movie and this is the best way to see it outside of a retrospective (Good luck!). It was my introduction to Tsai and for many years it was in my top 10 films of all time. While I can forgive those authoring mistakes - for most the price is out-of-line. I can only recommend to those BIG fans of both the film and the director. Personally, I LOVED seeing it so improved from the DVDs. Perhaps it will come on sale one day. Let's hope. I'd endorse if it was 50% of the current price. As for now - few would consider it being worthy of the $40 US price tag. ***
ON THE DVDs: I recently viewed your comparison of Tsai Ming Liang's Vive L'amour and was wondering if you noticed that Bitwin region 3 version is censored. The scene where Lee Kang-sheng enters the tub naked was edited so that we can't see his butt. Fox Lorber, even though it has inferior image quality, has a uncensored version of him entering the tub. (Thanks - Mitchell) *** Well, both DVDs leaves a bit to be desired. I didn't find excessive examples of 'combing' or 'ghosting' in the Fox but the Bitwin shows some pronounced 'combing' in horizontal pans telling us it is not progressively transferred. Both are non-anamorphic widescreen with the Fox being cropped in certain areas. The subtitles are ingrained on the Fox and removable on the Bitwin with the inclusion of English, Korean and Chinese. In regards to the image the Bitwin is sharper with far better color separation. On the Fox the colors can tend to bleed a bit and overall appears to be a bad Video transfer (flatline bitrate dead giveaway). Neither should be considered the definitive edition at this stage and with the director gaining popularity (and this one of his strongest films) perhaps there is hope for a better 16X9 progressive transfer in the offing. This remains one of my most watched DVDs solely for the film itself and from that standpoint we recommend the Bitwin which is the superior of the two. NOTE: The Bitwin comes in a very cool book-style case! |
Tsai Ming Liang Collection: Rebels Of The Neon God / The River / Vive L'amour (Blu-ray) (Remastered Edition) - Region FREE - Blu-ray Package with Book
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Menus
(Bitwin - Region 3 - NTSC LEFT vs. Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC RIGHT)
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Sony Music Entertainment (TW) - Region FREE - Blu-rays
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DVD included with 2011 Blu-ray
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE BELOW TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Individuals may rejoice at seeing Kang-sheng Lee's bare bum signifying the BLU-RAY is NOT the censored version of the film!
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Subtitle Sample
1) Bitwin - Region 3 - NTSC - TOP2) Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE 3) Sony - Region FREE - Blu-rays - BOTTOM |
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Screen Captures
1) Bitwin - Region 3 - NTSC - TOP2) Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE 3) Sony - Region FREE - Blu-rays - BOTTOM |
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1) Bitwin - Region 3 - NTSC - TOP2) Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE 3) Sony - Region FREE - Blu-rays - BOTTOM |
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1) Bitwin - Region 3 - NTSC - TOP2) Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE 3) Sony - Region FREE - Blu-rays - BOTTOM |
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1) Bitwin - Region 3 - NTSC - TOP2) Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE 3) Sony - Region FREE - Blu-rays - BOTTOM |
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1) Bitwin - Region 3 - NTSC - TOP2) Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE 3) Sony - Region FREE - Blu-rays - BOTTOM |
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1) Bitwin - Region 3 - NTSC - TOP2) Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE 3) Sony - Region FREE - Blu-rays - BOTTOM |
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1) Bitwin - Region 3 - NTSC - TOP2) Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE 3) Sony - Region FREE - Blu-rays - BOTTOM |
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1) Bitwin - Region 3 - NTSC - TOP2) Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE 3) Sony - Region FREE - Blu-rays - BOTTOM |
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1) Bitwin - Region 3 - NTSC - TOP2) Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC - MIDDLE 3) Sony - Region FREE - Blu-rays - BOTTOM |
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More Sony Blu-ray Captures
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Central Pictures Corporation has digitally remastered six classic films from the 80s and the 90s, producing brand-new digital prints that guarantee to overcome the test of time. After Dust in the Wind, four more of these films are arriving in high-definition on Blu-ray for fans to see these films the best way they have ever looked before. |
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|
||||
Edward Yang's The Terrorizers |
Chen Kuo Fu's The Personals |
Yu-Hsun Chen's Tropical Fish |
Ming-Liang Tsai's Vive L'Amour |
Hsiao-hsien Hou's Dust in the Wind |
|
|
|
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North Americans: Rest of World: |
North Americans: Rest of World: |
North Americans: Rest of World: |
North Americans: Rest of World: |
North Americans: Rest of World: |
Box Covers |
![]() |
|
![]() Out-Of-Print North Americans: Rest of World: |
![]() Coming to Blu-ray in the US by Film Movement in March 2025: |
Distribution | Bitwin - Region 3 - NTSC | Fox / Lorber - Region 0 - NTSC | Sony Music Entertainment (TW) - Region FREE - Blu-ray | REMASTERED (part of Tsai Ming Liang Collection) Sony Music Entertainment (TW) - Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Report Card:
Image: |
Blu-rays |
Sound: |
Blu-rays |
Extras: | Collection Blu-ray with book |