Tsai Ming-liang’s I DON’T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE (HEI YAN QUAN) Opens May 17 In Malaysia

Posted by The Visitor at 10:29am.

Posted in Film News , Drama, Asia.

It’s been a long and arduous journey. After being banned, then unbanned, then censored, Tsai Ming-liang’s I Don’t Want To Sleep Alone (Hei Yan Quan) will finally be released in Malaysia on May 17.

The Malaysian censors had asked for five cuts to be made to the film, and for the film to have only a limited release. Tsai said he made the cuts himself, and assures audiences that the film is still watchable. I Don’t Want To Sleep Alone will be shown in only one cinema, which is The Picturehouse at Cathay Cineleisure, in the vicinity of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, in anticipation of the release of the film, The Annexe of the Central Market in downtown Kuala Lumpur has been holding a retrospective of Tsai’s work. The art gallery-cum-screening theatre showed The River last night, after which Tsai made an appearance for a talk and q&a session.

Tsai revealed that he and his team have been going around town pre-selling tickets to his film. Originally, The Picturehouse only wanted a one-week engagement, but Tsai told them to give the film a two-week run. They were reluctant and told him that the film would definitely not do so well in Malaysia. But Tsai was adamant, and told them “Just give it two weeks, and leave the rest to me.”

To date, Tsai and his team have sold more than 2,000 tickets. I Don’t Want To Sleep Alone will only be screened in one 94-seater hall. So the 2,000-plus tickets have pretty much sealed the two-week run for the film. Now, Tsai said he is aiming for a third week.

He has been using this same tactic in Taiwan since 2001, giving talks at universities and schools and selling tickets on the streets. It has so far been very successful for him.

Next week, Kelab Seni Filem Malaysia, an independent film club, will be screening Rebels Of The Neon God and Goodbye Dragon Inn. Tsai will once again be in attendance, after the second screening. You can bet I’ll be there!

Previous Twitch report on the ban

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Reader Comments

Applecart 05/13/2007 @ 8:07pm

Thanks for the article. It’s very interesting to me. Partly because of the case of censorship and how Tsai-ming Liang deals with that, and partly because I love the director’s work ^_^