Film Details

Richard Suchenski, director of the Center for Moving Image Arts at Bard College and organizer of the international touring retrospective “Also Like Life: The Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien,” introduces and discusses one of Hou’s most celebrated works. Inspired by the life of Taiwanese puppeteer Li Tien-lu, an official “national treasure” who appeared in Hou’s previous films City of Sadness and Dust in the Wind and was 84 when this movie was made (he died in 1998), The Puppetmaster intercuts Li’s first-person recollections with dramatic reenactments of episodes from his turbulent life. This seamless, multi-layered narrative transports us back to Li’s childhood during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, to his days on the road with a troupe of traveling puppeteers, to his censorship battles with political authorities, and to his ongoing struggles with poverty and traditional family life. There are also memorable puppet performances.