Contemplating Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Aziz Barkın Kadıoğlu) TURKISH

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"The concept of "slowness" which has gained significance in response to the rapid pace of industrialized and urbanized modern society, can be seen as a reaction to the challenges posed by consumer culture. When examined in conjunction with movements that embrace slowness as a way of life, such as "Slow Food," "Slow City," and "Slow Media," it becomes evident that this concept has developed a rich cultural and social ideological framework. The notion of slowness, which has garnered increasing attention in literature since the late 1980s, particularly through the works of Petrini and Berthelsen, has also found its way into the realm of cinema. This cinematic trend, often referred to as "slow cinema," is characterized by deliberate cinematographic choices. It can be traced back to the cinematic narratives of the 1960s and continues to influence contemporary filmmaking.

Since the late 1980s, various filmmakers have converged under the banner of "slow cinema," adopting a new cinematic language that challenges the conventions of mainstream cinema. Slowness, in this context, affords the audience a unique opportunity to perceive time and movement at a more deliberate pace, inviting viewers to engage in deeper contemplation and immerse themselves in the film's universe. Slow cinema, championed by directors such as Tarr, Akerman, Angelopoulos, Tarkovski, and Bresson, has evolved to encompass a diverse array of internationally renowned filmmakers, including Weerasethakul, Zhangke, Hsiao-hsien, Costa, Ming-liang, and Nuri Bilge Ceylan. In this study, the film Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003) by Tsai Ming-liang, one of the prominent figures in slow cinema, has been analyzed within the framework of the concept of slow cinema by examining its cinematographic qualities. As a result, it has been observed that the formal and narrative features of the examined film share commonalities with the concept of slow cinema, and it has been revealed that the film, by choosing a closing cinema as its setting, articulates a discourse regarding the changes in the viewing experience."

Aziz Barkın Kadıoğlu; The Aesthetics of Slowness in Cinema: Contemplating Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003, Ming-liang) Through The Concept of Slow Cinema; 2023