On Dissipation: <i>Goodbye, Dragon Inn</i> and the “Death of Cinema”

• Main Author: Anders Bergstrom
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018-11-01
• Series: Arts
• Subjects: affect; post-cinema; subjectivity; temporality; perception; embodiment
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/7/4/91

This paper explores the cinematic meta-theme of the &#8220;death of cinema&#8222; through the lens of Taiwanese director, Tsai Ming-liang&#8217;s 2003 film, <i>Goodbye, Dragon Inn</i>. In the film, the final screening of the <i>wuxia pian</i> classic, <i>Dragon Inn</i>, directed by King Hu, provides a focal point for the exploration of the diminished experience of institutional cinema in the post-cinematic age. Using the concept of &#8220;dissipation&#8222; in conjunction with a reappraisal of the turn to affect theory, this paper explores the kinds of subjective experiences that cinema can offer, and the affective experience of cinema-going itself, as portrayed in <i>Goodbye, Dragon Inn</i>. More specifically, in theorizing the role of dissipation in cinema-going, this paper explores the deployment of time and space in <i>Goodbye, Dragon Inn</i> and how it directs attention to the bodily action of cinema-going itself. The result is a critique of the possibilities of post-cinematic affects, rooted in an understanding of the way that late-capitalism continues to dominate and shape the range of experiences in the contemporary moment.