Femininities in "The River" (《河流》)by Tsai Ming Liang

We watched The River (1997) by Tsai Ming Liang on Thursday, followed by the usual discussions during the seminar. 

(The River--Father holds Hsiao-kang's injured neck upright so that he may ride properly on his motorcycle)

Many issues were raised, and one of which that set me thinking is the representation of femininities in the film. In quite a number of Tsai's films, women are portrayed to be more socially active, and sometimes possessing masculine characteristics. Take for example, the female property agent played by Yang Guei-Mei in Vive L'Amour (1994) who cruises for men to satisfy her sexual desire. She picks up a man from the streets and goes to bed with him. The viewer's perspective is made to align with hers with a close-up of her taking the lead in foreplay by licking his nipples, subverting gender roles  in heterosexual sex behaviour. Her agency as a woman is further enhanced by allowing the sex to take place in a client's vacant house up for let. The domestic space is reclaimed as a site of transgression and agency. Public spaces are also sites of resistance in Tsai's films. In the opening scene in The Skywalk is Gone (2002)-- a middle-aged woman, played by Lu Yi-Ching (formerly known as Lu Hsiao-Ling) and a young female, played by Chen Shiang-Chyi jaywalk across a very busy road after the overhead bridge has been demolished. This is also evidently an act of transgression, especially in the city centre of Taipei where cars are on full throttle. When the duo are stopped by a police officer after they successfully cross the road, they display "civil disobedience" by debating their rights to cross because "the skywalk is gone," implying that modifications of urban architecture by the state has inconvenienced them, motivating them to take up a proactive stand in overcoming the problem.

 (Vive L'Amour: Yang Guei-mei caresses the bed in an empty house)

In The River, there are three female characters. One is a film director, Ann Hui, the Hong Kong masculine-looking director whom orders the male protagonist Hsiao-kang to plunge into the polluted river and pass off as a floating corpse. She appears to be authoritative, confident and sure of the objectives she wants to achieve for the making of the film. Another is a girl from the film crew played by Chen Shiang Chyi, who has sex with Hsiao-kang in a hotel room. She adopts the "top-position" and her active role is also resonated in other films, such as The Skywalk is Gone where she is portrayed to be the seeker, actively searching for Hsiao-kang everywhere in the city. 

The mother, played by Lu Yi-Ching of The River is one interesting character to study. She is economically independent with a regular job at a restaurant (contrast this with her estranged husband whom is not working or idling in the city), and has a relationship with a lover in which she plays the active role of seduction. One of her favourite pastimes is watching straight pornography (which is usually presumed to be a heterosexual male activity) and one of the reasons could be due to her husband's gay orientation and her lover's indifference to her sexual advances. During a scene when she is sexually aroused by the lovemaking noises from a porn movie playing in the background, she tries to seduce her napping lover whom ignores her. Unsatisfied, she also adopts the "top position" by attempting to mount his back. However, we are not shown whether she gets to fulfill her desire in the end. 

Would it be right to say then, that in comparison with the men (father and son) whom have their sexual desires satisfied, the women in The River are denied of sexual fulfillment and therefore their agency are always lacking, even though they are represented as more proactive, masculine and more economically capable? That depends on whether we want to include sexual fulfillment as part of gender agency, and whether moments of resistance or sexual transgression by the females could be considered feminist empowerment. Then again, to disregard the sexual fulfillment of women would further entrench the heterosexist male chauvinistic belief that females have no need for orgasms--they are easily satisfied with the process of lovemaking itself. But how do we know whether Shiang-Chyi is sexually fulfilled or not in the hotel scene? To quantify sexual desire  and its satisfaction would of course be a hilarious task. The concept of female agency defintely demands more rigorous study and should be taken up in a more detailed paper.

 (The Skywalk is Gone--Shiang-Chyi gazes at the LCD advertisement panel in front of a shopping mall in central Taipei)

Note: Thanks to 坤华 for pointing out the error in the name of the actress playing Hsiao-Kang's mother. It should be "Lu Yi-Ching" instead of "Yang Pi-Ying".