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Best movie of this year hands down!

Such a frustrating disappointment

How sad is this?

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The best film about the ironic alienation and loneliness in mega-cities ever made. There is no comparison to Rebels of a Neon God. It is unlike anything you've ever seen or will ever see. Upon careful analysis, it is almost impossible to discern even the basic foundations of a three/five act structure, like the classic act 1, plot point1, act 2 pt1, mid-point, act 2 pt2, plot point 2, act 3... all nowhere to be found. Tsai Ming-Liang has created A NEW LANGUAGE of film making here.An essential study for anyone willing to explore a radically different approach to film making. The only film I can think of comparing it to – in terms of creating a new language – is 'Persona' by Ingmar Bergman.Bravo Tsai! Bravo

On a more obvious level of multiple layers, a crucial, cultural point of significance seems lost in translation. As Rebels of the neon god comprise the sense of urban alienation, tradition and cultural adaptation, secularization, the decaying city and loss of identity, the original title translates literally Teenage Nezha. And as implied by his frustrated mother, the main character of Hsiao Kang bares resembling "qualities" to that of the rebel god, born into a human family and in constant opposition. While most reincarnations of Nezha grow additional limbs for the purpose of eradicating their father, Hsiao's idle hands become the playground for the prankster god. Sparked by an act of force, the two main plots of the film intertwine, and are further fueled by the returning violence. After their encounter in the arcade, Hsiao can be seen playing the same shoot-em-up as the one Ah Tze played while sitting next to him, symbolizing a change in character and the unraveling of the revenge. The directors returning use of water as ever-present, controlling element of nature, suppressing spaces of confined and human, primal behavior sets up a hierarchy of command in the metropolitan chaos of Taipei.

In his first film, international "arty" director Tsai Ming-liang tells what is apparently, for him, a fairly accessible tale about two fake thugs, the sometimes-girlfriend of one of them, and a younger teenager who has a strange preoccupation with the three of them. He does so largely with long, one-take, unmoving shots (when the action moves into the background, the camera usually doesn't follow). It's not always easy to understand the relationship between these various characters, which is just as well, as it is pretty languid and obscure in general; teasing out the nuances of these relationships was my main source of interest while watching this film. Overall, it seems to be worth a try, but not worth a recommendation. I got a generally positive impression from it (meaning that it didn't just totally irritate me), but it didn't provoke a strong visceral aesthetic appreciation (that's a little paradoxical I guess) that I get from my favorite "art films." I'm tempted to watch one of Tsai's later, "better-known" (relatively speaking) films, but I'm not sure that I'm that enamored with his visual style or his style of storytelling (as opposed to, say, that of Wong Kar-Wai).

Anyone who has ever visited Taipei would agree that this movie is so real by picturing out the decadent city. The city is getting more terrible with people who deeply believe in fake democracy but ignore their environmental improving. Our young heroes are victims like all the living victims one will easily find in streets of Taipei.