Singapore International Film Festival 2018
Goodnight & Goodbye
Rating
NC16 Some Coarse Language
Language
Mandarin - subtitles to be advised
Synopsis
Two decades after he made the legendary Swimming on the Highway, Taiwanese documentarian Wu Yao-tung has yet to emerge from the shadow of his most famous (or infamous) work. Condemned as much as he is exalted for exploring the subjective viewpoint of the documentary-maker, Wu’s identity is so tightly twined around that singular film that he has lost his sense of self.
To regain it, Wu embarks on a journey to track down Tom (the subject of the earlier film) and chronicle his old friend’s life and times, ostensibly in order to exorcise his own inner demons. Featuring previously unseen footage cut from the 1998 film, Wu’s companion piece is a sensitive mediation on the inevitable myth-making that occurs when reality is distilled into art.