Stray Dogs

The films of Taiwan director Tsai Ming-Liang have become successively more abstract. Stray Dogs, centering on a homeless family trying to survive on the fringes of Taipei, is his most austere and minimalist to date—a film with almost no traditional narrative, presented in a style that has been alternately described as hypnotic and pretentious. The director's longtime star and muse, Lee Kang-sheng, is a single father who toils as a human signpost, implacably holding an ad at a busy intersection, while his two children wander the streets by day. Also on hand is a woman (played by three different actresses) who crosses paths with the children but whose tenuous connection is never explained. Clearly about isolation and disconnection, Stray Dogs is also a grueling watch (over two hours of soul-crushing scenes) with almost no dialogue, comprised of long takes (up to 10 minutes) in busy urban locations and empty abandoned spaces using a static camera that studies the characters with such unblinking focus that the slightest movement takes on heightened dramatic dimensions. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, Stray Dogs has earned both rave reviews and frustrated dismissals. Tsai is a major international director but this is a difficult film that will challenge all but the most dedicated fans of art movies and slow cinema. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)