The Puppetmaster

Hou Hsiao-hsien's 1993 film draws on the memoirs of the Taiwanese puppeteer Li Tien-lu, covering the period from his birth in 1909 to the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945. Li himself appears, sitting before the camera and recounting his life directly, with the dramatised scenes settling in between. The film is therefore both a life and the record of that life being told. Hou keeps the political history in the background and never centres the large events; half a century of a family, a trade and an island passes inside long, static shots. The puppet performances work as a quiet comment on how colonial rule used culture. It was the first Taiwanese film to reach competition at Cannes and took the jury prize. Who it's for: viewers who love slow cinema, the Taiwanese New Wave and historical narrative. Who it's not for: anyone wanting narrative momentum and emotion in close-up; the film never gives up its distance.