About

“You see, I rarely talk with Lee Kang-sheng. We live close to each other but we seldom talk. And when we do it’s only about trivial matters […] That’s why Afternoon exists.” – Tsai Ming-liang

Few director-actor partnerships have been as longstanding, inextricable and fruitful as the one between Tsai Ming-liang and Lee Kang-sheng. From Lee’s appearance in Tsai’s first telefilm, his starring roles in all of the director’s features and his portrayal of the red-robed monk in the ‘Walker’ series, their personal and artistic lives are forever intertwined. In this simple documentary, they sit together and, over more than two hours, candidly discuss their creative practices, their private lives and the philosophies that guide them. The two men – Tsai, garrulous and anxious, and Lee, quiet and contemplative – invite the viewer into their world for an engrossing conversation that reveals as much as it further obscures.