North American Premiere of 4K restoration!
One of the first independent films made in Hong Kong, and an important precursor to the Hong Kong New Wave, T’ang Shushuen’s formidable debut, The Arch adapts a 17th-century Chinese folktale about the suppression of a woman’s desire.
An important precursor to the Hong Kong New Wave, T’ang Shushuen’s The Arch adapts a 17th-century Chinese folktale about the suppression of a woman's desire into a quiet, sensual epic. Shot in luminous black-and-white in part by Subrata Mitra, a frequent cinematographer for Satyajit Ray (whose Days and Nights in the Forest is also presented in this year’s TIFF Classics), the entire film is bathed in refracted longing, with a push-pull between virtue and fulfilment grounded in its central character’s conflicted subjectivity.
A young widow, Madam Tung (Lisa Lu), lives with her frail mother-in-law and spirited daughter, devoting herself to work and to the memory of her late husband. Her dignified commitment has been recognized by the town’s court, who are planning to erect a chastity archway in her honour.
Upon the arrival of handsome army head Captain Yang (Roy Chiao), the two are instantly drawn to one another — the attraction is palpable — but Madam Tung’s sense of morality prevents any union from forming, and he instead gives in to her daughter’s advances. While the image of the stoically suffering woman may recall melodramatic tropes from classic Chinese and Japanese cinema, The Arch readily employs a host of exhilarating experimental techniques — from an expressionistic soundtrack to the film’s unconventional montage (the film was co-edited by T’ang and Les Blank) — which build to a startling crescendo.
T’ang’s formidable debut is unsparing in its depiction of gender roles as defined and managed by traditional Chinese society, and its avant-garde ethos earned it a spot in the first-ever edition of the Director’s Fortnight in Cannes in 1969.
ANDRÉA PICARD
The original black-and-white 35mm negatives of the film have been lost. The restoration was made using extant materials from 1968, including a 35mm release print preserved at the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and a 35mm release print preserved and scanned at the BFI National Archive.
The digital restoration was undertaken at Silver Salt Restoration.
Special thanks to the descendants of Paul Lee; Les Blank Films; and the Hong Kong Film Archive, Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
The Arch is one of the films under M+ Restored, an initiative supported by CHANEL.
Screenings
TIFF Lightbox 4