In the 9th century Tang dynasty, a woman is abducted as a child and trained to be a merciless killer. When she fails one of her assignments, she is ordered to return to her town of birth to murder the governor, who is also her cousin and former lover.
Such is the premise of Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien’s newest film, “The Assassin.” Hou is appearing at the James Bridges Theater today in support of the film and receiving an award from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He will also give a Q&A translated by UCLA Asian languages and cultures Professor Robert Chi.
“The Assassin” is based on a short story, titled “Nie Yinniang,” which Hou read at a young age. He said he did extensive research into histories and accounts of the period to familiarize himself with the culture, dress and way of life.
Hou said, ultimately, it’s impossible to be exactly precise when it comes to historical accounts.
“I really wish I had a time machine to go back and spend a few days in the old times, to know exactly what the world looked like and come back, but obviously that’s impossible,” Hou said.
Hou is a director that falls under the category of arthouse cinema in many parts of the world, a fact that he says is primarily due to the genre’s inaccessibility to a standard audience. Hou is known for his use of narrative minimalism, comprised of long takes and very few acting rehearsals.
These techniques, Hou said, are a form of personal expression and communication, and mean that his films do not go in a conventional, accessible, audience-friendly direction.
“The author, or the auteur, so to speak, of this kind of film, is able to come in and figure out their own formula,” Hou said. “They are able to figure out exactly what they want to express and the proper form to express those things.”
Hou said, with filmmaking constantly evolving in the digital age, change is inevitable. He relates how the ways in which films are shown to an audience can be manipulated, similar to how art like comics books and manga use different shots and sequences to change the physical medium.
“With a frame, for example, you can widen the frame, you can shorten the frame, you do with the frame as you please,” Hou said. “Now that you can play with visual expression and visual communication, the possibilities are very interesting.”
Hou said, with a lot of added flexibility, arthouse filmmakers can now use their techniques to create even more personalization.
“Filmmakers want to make sure films are communal experiences, that these are events,” Hou said. “I think it’s perfectly possible that these films become more expensive and technologically advanced, making them so unique that you have to experience them in a theater.
Compiled by Sebastian Torrelio, A&E senior staff